Two's Enough
by LilMissCandy
Summary: Ashley and Jackson get recruited to CHERUB after their parent's die in a fire, but they are not ordinary kids. Follow their story.
1. Fire

Ashley Morant strolled out into the cool night air, after an exhausting karate grading. Her black belt blew lightly in the wind, and she couldn't help smiling to herself. She was now a Fifth Dan Karate Black Belt, and to her it was the best achievement she had ever made. She couldn't wait to tell her parents the good news.

Ashley rounded to corner and began jogging up the hill to her house, but gasped in horror as she saw that it was in flames.

'Fire! Help!'

Ashley heard a siren and glanced down the road at a fire truck that had just entered the street. She was freaking. She knew that her whole family was in there and asleep for sure; they never stayed up this late.

She ran down the driveway and tried to go down the back stairs, but was driven back by the extreme heat.

'Get away from there!' A fireman was running down the driveway. 'Anyone in there?'

'Only my whole family,' said Ashley sarcastically.

'Oh my god,' The fireman shouted up to the others, and gestured for them to come down quickly.

Suddenly there was a creaking sound, and sparks flew everywhere. The roof was collapsing! Ashley's heart was in her mouth as she watched her beloved house collapse into a pile of burning wood and metal. She couldn't bear this any longer. She sprinted down the hill, went head over heels and landed in a bush. Ashley sobbed. This was the worst thing that had ever happened in her life.

When Ashley first opened her eyes, she had no idea where she was. Then she remembered: she was in a bush at the bottom of her street, and her whole family had died the night before.

With tears streaking down her elegant face, Ashley trudged up the hill to take a look at the ruins of the house she had lived in since she was born. All that was left was a pile of smoking rubble. She remembered her sister and two brothers. She had been the second oldest. Her sixteen year old brother Michael had been the oldest. Her ten year old brother Jackson had come next, and then eight year old Megan had been the youngest. Now without them, and without her parents, she had nowhere to go. She was only 13; nobody would offer her a job. The only sensible place to go was to the police station. Her mother had always told her that if she was ever in trouble, the police would help her. They would find her a home.

Ashley jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around. Standing in pyjama bottoms and socks was Jackson. Jackson was alive!

Hope rushed through her.

'Jackson!' Ashley pulled him into a massive hug.

'Ash! Mum and Dad and everyone...'

'I know. But it's gonna be OK, right?' said Ashley, more to convince herself rather than her younger brother.

She broke away from him. 'We have to go to the police station. Now.'

A bell sounded as Ashley walked through the doors of the police station, trying to calm Jackson.

'Can I help you?' asked the receptionist.

'Well, our house burned down last night."

The receptionist gasped, 'Old Mill House? I was told nobody survived!'

'Well obviously, we did,' said Jackson bluntly.

'Well then, who are your relatives? Where do they live?'

Ashley and Jackson looked at each other. 'Uh... we don't have any.'

The receptionist tried not to cry in front of the children. She too had lost her parents in a fire. Watching the little boy – whatever his name was – reminded her of her them, and how she too had nowhere to go.

'We will sort you out a children's home then,' she said, as best she could. 'I will just make a few phone calls. You can wait in the waiting room, to your left. There are lots of toys there.'

Ashley didn't have the strength to argue. She led Jackson through to the waiting room, where there was a small box of toys and a wall-mounted TV.

She picked up the remote and turned it on. There was news about the fire on almost every channel. She could guess why. This was Cornwall, UK. Anything that happened got put on the news, probably because they had nothing serious to report. Ever.

The receptionist poked her head around the door. 'I've sorted you a place at Elm House, I will take you there myself now.'


	2. Home

Chapter 2

Ashley felt weird as she entered what was now going to be her home – until they found her a foster family. Her room was tacky, but she was used to that. At home, her parents had given her the best education and everything, but had left out the living luxury part, because they felt it was best for her to experience what middle class living was like. Her family had been rich, but it was still a big change because she would have to go to a public school. Ashley was way above the standard of most students. She spoke English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese and had one of the highest IQs at her school.

Her bed had a plain white duvet, and a wardrobe with a locker on each side sat next to it. A small desk sat under the window, and a small bag of clothes sat by the door. She realised that she still had her karate kit on from the night before.

Ashley felt sad. She had lost everything she owned, and her family. She had no idea what her future would be like now. As she collapsed on her bed, a voice called out.

'Hi, how are you?'

Ashley turned over and saw a thin Jamaican girl about her age standing by the door on the opposite side of the room.

'Hi, I'm OK. My name's Ashley. Nice to meet you.'

The girl held out her hand. 'Gabrielle. You're my room-mate. I only came last week. When did you arrive?'

'Just this morning. My parents died in a fire last night.'

'Oh you poor thing! I'm so sorry!' cried Gabrielle. 'My parents died in a car crash. A few years ago.'

Ashley stayed quiet. She didn't like talking about her parents now.

'When's breakfast? I'm starved,' asked Ashley.

'It's about now. I'll take you down, let's go.'

*

Ashley was glad she had made a friend, but she was still depressed. At breakfast she sat with Gabrielle and a few others. They all seemed nice and the food tasted OK. She was glad Jackson had settled in. He sat a few tables away with a group of about ten boys. He didn't seem worried at all.

After breakfast, Ashley went back to her room. All the other kids were in school, and there was nothing to do in the home. There was a knock at the door, and Jackson's head poked around it.

'Can I come in?' he asked.

Ashley shrugged.

'Are you OK; you look a bit washed out?' Jackson said.

'Yeah, I'm fine, I just miss them, I suppose,'

'Uh huh,' said Jackson. 'So do I, but I try not to think about it. There's nothing to do, so why dwell on it?'

'I suppose,' said Ashley, still rather subdued. 'I feel like a walk. I need to clear my head,'

'Can I come with?'

Ashley shrugged, 'Sure,'

The street was nothing better than the home itself. The sidewalks were littered with rubbish, and every now and then you could see blood on the road, which suggested that they should probably steer clear.

'Subtle,' Ashley murmured.

A few hundred meters up the road, they came to a vacant block of land. Ashley threw herself down, picked up a few long grasses and started weaving them into a bracelet. Jackson plopped down beside her.

'Why here?'

Ashley looked up, 'It's quiet, shady and a can't be bothered to walk any further,'

'Right,'

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Jackson spoke up.

'What are we gonna do about Karate? There's no way the home will pay for us,'

Ashley frowned, 'Right now, no Karate is the least of my worries,'

Jackson nodded, 'I suppose there are higher priorities,'

Ashley struggled to think of a reply, but was interrupted by a screaming sound coming from the other side of the road.

She whirled around, and saw a small boy of about seven, struggling to get away from a gang of teenagers who were pursuing him. Ashley and Jackson reacted automatically, and tore towards the fight.

'Leave him alone!' yelled Ashley.

The boys laughed. 'Oh no! She's gonna try and stop us!'

Jackson's head snapped up. 'Don't patronise us! You want trouble, you'll get it!'

'If you start it, squirt, we'll finish it,'

Ashley had had enough. She charged forward, and knocked the first boy cold with a punch to the side of the head. Jackson stepped up to the second one, who was a whole three heads taller. The boy grabbed his collar and dragged him away, but Jackson reacted straight away, kneeing him in the guts and knocking him over with an aggressive back kick. Jackson stepped over the unconscious teenagers and ran over to Ashley, who was now taking on the last guy. She ducked to avoid a clumsy punch and drove her foot between his legs. The boy groaned in agony and collapsed. They ran over to the kid, who was staring as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

'I owe you guys! You totally saved me from a beating,' he said.

Ashley smiled, 'No problem. I'm Ashley, this is Jackson,'

'I'm Simon,' said Simon. I'm supposed to be at school, but I should probably get back to the home and get some ice for my eye,'

Jackson nodded, 'We don't have school yet, so we'll walk with you,'

The home was dark after being out in the sun that morning. Ashley and Jackson went to Simon's room, I which he happened to have an Xbox. Jackson was pleased. He hadn't had one at home, and hadn't played since a play date with one of his friend's a few months before. They played all day, occasionally stopping to grab snacks from the kitchen. They mainly told stories about events in their lives and how they'd ended up here. Simon wasn't surprised to hear that they were black belts in Karate. He had suspected that. On the other hand, Ashley and Jackson were surprised at Simon's story. He had been born in Norway, and his parents had died in a skidoo accident when he was four. He had spent two days wandering in the snow, before he was found by a couple of lodgers. He had severe hypothermia and was airlifted to hospital, before being transferred to a children's home in London. He had been in seven different foster families before he had ended up at Elm house.

Ashley wondered what she would have done if she had been in the same position.

At 3:00, all the kids started poring in from school. Ashley left Jackson and Simon and went to find Gabrielle. She was where Ashley had thought: In the dorm.

'Hi, how was school?' asked Ashley.

'Not good,' said Gabrielle. 'A bunch of idiots set light to a newspaper in a classroom and they had to call the fire brigade. Everyone had to walk out of class and onto the school oval. We stayed there for a whole three hours and I missed my cooking and art classes,'

'Gosh,'

'Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Oh, and I heard about your fight with the Cambrel triplets this-morning,'

'They're _triplets_?' asked Ashley, 'They don't look anything like each other!'

'Well, yeah, turns out they are,' said Gabrielle, 'You're awesome at fighting! Where'd you learn?'

'Noamber St Karate. I trained every afternoon until my parents died,'

'I know Karate too,' Gabrielle said. 'I'm a Second Dan. What about you? You must be at least a second too,'

'I'm a fifth,' said Ashley. 'My brother Jackson is a fourth,'

Gabrielle's eyes widened. '_Really_? Wow,'

Ashley nodded. 'Karate is my life. I don't know what I'm gonna do now because the home won't pay the fees for us. Where do you learn?'

'I used to live with a foster family, and my foster father was an instructor,'

A bell sounded in the hallway.

'Dinner, Let's go,' said Gabrielle.

*

After dinner, they went back to the dorm, and sat on the floor playing scrabble. Mostly they just talked and moaned about their lives. Before bed, a house parent came in.

'You can start at Windsor School tomorrow; Gabrielle will find you a Uniform and show you the way,'

Ashley nodded. Gabrielle took her down to the laundry where a big box of tatty school uniforms were kept. Ashley found a uniform, and some fairly battered shoes that fit her OK. When they got to bed, Ashley felt sad. Tomorrow she would go to school and meet new friends, but she was disappointed. In everyone's life, there was a twist, like in books. You had your ups and downs, but there was always a turning point. Ashley knew that this was her twist. Her parents and two of her siblings had died in a fire. She had to give up everything and start again from the beginning, at a small care home in a dirty and violent neighbourhood.

*

Windsor School was a 2km walk, through fields and vandalised streets. Jackson and a few others walked with them. They were late but nobody seemed to care, and messed about chasing each other through fields and rolling down hills.

When Ashley got to the school, she walked with Gabrielle to registration. There seemed to be dramas everywhere: fights breaking out, lame excuses, students bunking off. When they got to the classroom, Ashley handed her form teacher a note and sat down at the back with Gabrielle.

'This is Ashley,' said the teacher. 'Please make her feel very welcome here at Windsor and help her to find her way around,'

The class exchanged grunts and looked back at her. She could tell all of the boys were checking her out, and it felt creepy.

The first lesson was Science. Gabrielle wasn't in her class, so Ashley sat in the only available chair at the back, next to a boy with extremely short hair. The lesson was nothing compared to the ones at her boarding school and she was soon bored. The teacher was strict and not much more that a few giggles and a flick of a rubber band were heard, but this happened to be about the only lesson where the kids actually worked.

The rest of the school day was a blur. Nobody seemed to care about lessons, and the teachers were at utter despair with all the chaos. Ashley had expected this, but it was still a shock when she saw kids jumping in and out of windows, throwing textbooks and paper darts, and swearing at each other.

She hung out with Gabrielle for the entire day. When they got home after school, Ashley was so tired she thought she could sleep for a million years. Just as she was about to go to sleep, a kid stuck his head round the door.

'The counsellor wants to see you,'


	3. Recruitment

Chapter 3

Ashley sat up rubbing her eyes, and wondering where she was. She saw Jackson across the room, sprawled out over a mattress. She was about to get out of bed, when she realised she was naked. OK, that was creepy. She wrapped the duvet around her and hobbled over to two sets of clothes that had been laid out on the floor. Ashley put on the bigger of the two and studied them carefully. There were army – style trousers, a bright orange shirt and a pair of shiny boots that smelt new. On the shirt there was a picture of a winged baby sitting on a globe, with the initials CHERUB printed under it.

After waking up Jackson and explaining what had happened, the two stepped out of the door and into the brightly-lit hallway.

The hallway was full of kids, in the same uniform but with grey, navy or black t-shirts. They all seemed to stop talking and stare, and it was sort of starting to drive Ashley around the bend. New arrivals seemed less- frequent here than at the children's home and appeared to be much less popular with the other kids.

Ashley spoke to one of them. 'Why do you keep staring at us?'

'Can't talk to orange,' replied the girl, realising that she was staring a bit too much.

Ashley was confused. They were all so welcoming at the home. Here they treated newbies like scum. Not knowing what to do or where to go, she walked towards the elevator and rode down to the ground floor.

Inside the lift was a boy of about her age, in an orange shirt like her.

'Hey, I presume orange is allowed to talk to orange?' she laughed.

'Yeah, I suppose. I'm Mike by the way. Mike Shackleton. Did you wake up here randomly this morning too?'

'Yep' Jackson butted in. 'I'm Jackson, and this is Ashley, my sister.'

Mike smiled. 'Nice to meet you. We'd better go down and see what's going on,'

The elevator opened out to a reception area, and the lady at the desk called her over. 'Ashley, Jackson and Mike, come quickly. Mac would like to see you in his office,'

The receptionist led them down a wide corridor and told them to knock on the door, before disappearing back to her desk. Outside the room, a boy with messy blonde hair was slouching in a chair. He looked about thirteen. Ashley smiled at him, 'What are you here for?'

His head shot up, and he looked thoughtful. She watched him take out a pen and scribble a message on a scrap of paper.

'Can't talk to orange, but there's no rule that says you can't write. I'm James. I didn't do my homework.' He smiled.

'I'm Ashley, this is Jackson and Mike,' she smiled, before knocking on the door.

An old man with a Scottish accent opened the door, and ushered her in. He gave James an _I'll be with you later _look and shut the door. James looked pissed off.

'Welcome to Cherub Campus, Ashley, Jackson and Mike. I'm Mac, the Chairman. Slept well?'

They nodded.

'I hope we haven't disturbed you in any way.'

'Why did you take us here? Without telling us, I mean. Why not just pop us in a car?' asked Jackson.

'That's a bit difficult. You see, Cherub is a young branch of British Intelligence. We cannot afford for non- agents to know where we are situated.'

'So, are we being asked to join, or something?' asked Ashley, excitedly.

'Yes, that is the intention. However, you do have to do some tests first. They will last the rest of the day. Are you up for it?'

'Of course,' they nodded.

*

Mac, Ashley, Jackson and Mike walked together to a Japanese style building, which both of them knew was a Dojo. Ashley guessed what they were about to be tested on: Martial Arts. She wasn't nervous; she and Jackson were black belts. She was a Fifth Dan and Jackson was a Fourth Dan. They should win easily, and Mac had no idea about their accomplishments. It wasn't written in their personal files at all.

Ashley saw Jackson smile as they entered the building. She was glad too. She was ready to do what she did best. They walked into another, smaller room. A kid about Jackson's height was waiting for them, in a Karate suit with a black belt. She wasn't sure about Mike, but Mac obviously wasn't counting on them to win.

'Jackson, you first.' said Mac.

Jackson nodded.

'This is Jake. He is going to spar with you.' explained Mac. 'The first to win five submissions is the winner. No hitting in the balls and no eye gouging. Do you understand?'

Both boys nodded.

'Ok, fight.'

Jackson charged forward and ducked to avoid a back-kick from Jake. Jackson lifted him and threw him into the air over his shoulder. Jake tried to get up, but Jackson was already on top of him. Jackson punched him in the nose, and blood spurted up his arm.

Jake moaned and thumped the matting in submission.

'Ok, square up and prepare for the second bout,' said Mac, obviously surprised at Jackson's capabilities.

Ashley grinned at Mac's surprised look. Jackson was extremely strong for his age. He had been two weeks away from his Fifth Dan grading when their parents had died. He always got straight A's at school like her, and he spoke five languages as well as English. _She_ wasn't surprised at him.

Jake got up of the floor and adopted a fighting stance. She could tell he was surprised too.

Jake charged forward without waiting for the start signal, but was knocked out by a roundhouse kick and a lightning fast hook-punch from Jackson. He crumpled to the floor, out cold.

Mac gasped and ran over. 'Get me some water.'

Jackson looked guilty. 'Sorry, Mac. I didn't mean to do that!'

Mac turned around, 'Where on earth did you learn to do that? He is one of the best agents at combat on campus!'

'I started learning when I was three. I would be a Fifth Dan by now if my parents hadn't died,' Jackson shrugged.

'Wow, Mac said. 'What about your sister?'

'She's a Fifth Dan too. She started when she was three, but I do more lessons a week so we're about the same level.'

'We're going to need a replacement for Jake so that Ashley and Mike can do the test too,' Mac said. 'Wait here while I go next door. There happens to be an advanced combat training course happening there.'

Mac walked out of the room.

Mike cracked a massive grin, 'How do you do that? Man, the look on Mac's face when you knocked him out!'

Jackson shrugged, 'Wait until you see Ashley fight. She's way better than me.'

Ashley laughed. 'Nah, we're about the same.'

'But you're taller and heavier. That's a big advantage.'

Ashley shrugged. 'Whatever. You're stronger, and besides, I'm a girl.'

Jackson grinned. 'Now you admit it!'

Mike felt like he wasn't even there. 'Ladies!'

Jackson smirked, but just then, Mac came back in with another boy, who looked about twelve. He had straggly dark brown hair and brown eyes; _quite good-looking_, thought Ashley.

'Ashley, your turn. This is Bruce. You know the rules, I presume.'

They nodded.

'Ok, fight.'

Bruce charged forwards like lightning, but Ashley was much more experienced and sidestepped, before knocking him to the ground with a vicious roundhouse kick. Bruce doubled over and Ashley used this to her advantage. She moved in and stamped the back of his knees. Bruce collapsed and yelled, 'I submit!'

Ashley went back to her place on the mat and prepared for the next bout. Bruce charged forwards, but missed again. Ashley flipped him over and sat astride him. She grabbed his thumb and twisted it until it dislocated, and Bruce screamed out.

Mac looked at Bruce, who was lying on the floor whimpering. 'You want to carry on?'

Bruce looked pissed off, but decided it was probably better to give up than to break any bones. He would get an awful winding up from his friends, though.

He sighed. 'I withdraw. Could I have some ice, Mac?'

Ashley tutted. 'It's dislocated, silly. Here, show me.'

Ashley crunched Bruce's thumb bone back into place, and the pain made his knees buckle.

'Good fight, Bruce,' said Ashley. Bruce grudgingly shook her hand.

'Where'd you learn to do that?'

'I've done karate since I was seven. I'm a Fifth Dan, but my brother Jackson is way better.'

Bruce looked around. 'Is that him?' He pointed at Mike.

Ashley shook her head, and led Bruce through to a medical room off to the side. 'That's him.'

Bruce gasped when he saw Jake lying on a bed, just coming round. But he was even more surprised when he saw Jackson. He was the shortest kid he had ever seen, and his arms were so thick with muscle that they looked like they could break rocks.

'You're Jackson?' Bruce asked.

'Yeah, hey. And you're Bruce. I heard.'

Bruce started to giggle. 'You knocked him out! That's so hilarious! He is always so full of himself, and that would certainly have knocked some ego out of him!'

'Hey!' a croaky voice said. 'I heard that!'

Mac came in. 'Is he OK?'

'Yes, but he will probably have a mild headache for the rest of the day,' replied Jackson, as if he were a nurse giving a diagnosis.

'Good. Make sure he gets plenty of water. Mike, your turn. Come on Bruce.'

Bruce groaned.

*

Ashley, Jackson and Mike sat in Mac's office, after a long day of tests. Mike had a bloody nose and a black eye, suggesting that although Bruce was injured, he still hadn't fared so well.

'Well. I am pleased to say that you all did very well on the tests. The first test was fantastic. Ashley and Jackson won, and that was a huge achievement. Mike lost, but he still passed the test. The written exam results were also exceptional. You all got 100%, and so far nobody has ever done that. The third test was good. You all grabbed the chicken and killed it straight away, without me having to bribe you into it.

The fourth test was excellent. You all fared well and didn't mistime any jumps.

Now, the last test. Mike, unfortunately, you failed, but we had no idea you had asthma, and by the look on your face, neither did you. For that, I will make an exception. Ashley and Jackson passed the test.

Overall, you have all done exceptionally. If you wish to accept the place here, then we will send you back to collect you things from the home. If you do not accept, then we will find you a foster family. OK, now it's decision time.

Ashley, Jackson and Mike looked at each other and grinned. 'We accept!'

'Right, well you need to choose a new last name,' said Mac. 'Nothing too unusual, please,'

The kids thought for a minute, then discussed it. After a few minutes, Mike spoke up.

'I want to be called Mike Stevens; it's nice and bland,'

'OK,' said Mac. 'What about you two?'

'Lockett,' said Ashley and Jackson in unison.

'Right, are you all sure about that?'

They nodded.

'Alright. Mike, date of birth, please,'


	4. Arrival

Chapter 4

Ashley, Jackson and Gabrielle sat in a minibus, on their way back to campus. Ashley had been pleased when she found out that Gabrielle was a part of CHERUB too. Now she wouldn't have to worry about not knowing anyone. After stopping at motor services for tea and the toilet, they drove for ten minutes until they got to a huge barbed fence. The driver flashed an ID card and they drove on. A few minutes later they came to a stop outside the main building, and stepped out into the sunshine.

Gabrielle took a deep breath. 'Home, sweet home!'

Ashley smiled, and walked around to the storage compartment, where their bags were being unloaded. Gabrielle handed a pale blue CHERUB to them

'I'll take you to your rooms. Follow me.'

Gabrielle led them away from the main building and down a winding path, then across football fields. 'We'll go to Jackson's room first, in the Junior Block. He has to stay there until he qualifies because there's not enough room in the main building.'

The Junior Block was definitely not as flashy as the main building, but it was still miles nicer than the home. Gabrielle led them down a long corridor and stopped at a door that said 28. 'There you go – home. You'll be sharing a room with Jake Parker. Watch out, he's a bit of a monkey.'

Jackson looked at Ashley. 'Is that the one I floored in the dojo yesterday? The one with brown spiky hair?'

Ashley nodded.

Gabrielle smirked. 'You beat Jake in the test? Wow!'

Jackson grinned. 'Yep'

Ashley piped up, before Jackson had a chance to boast even more, 'Can I see my room?'

'Sure,' Gabrielle nodded. 'Are you coming, Jackson?'

'Wait!' cried Jackson. He pulled his shirt over his head and slipped on the blue shirt, before running after them.

After a ten minute walk and a ride up in the lift, Ashley stepped into her room on the sixth floor of the main building. It was exactly like the one she had woken up in the morning before: TV, double bed, microwave, miniature fridge.

Jackson looked so jealous. 'Why can't I have a room like this? I have to share a room with ego boy and she gets her own fridge!'

Gabrielle smiled. 'Red shirts – kids aged fewer than ten – and some unqualified agents like you, live in the Junior Block. Blue, grey, navy and black shirts live in the main building.'

'What does each shirt mean? You have a navy shirt. Is that the highest rank or something?' asked Ashley.

'No, a black shirt is the highest rank, and it's awarded for an outstanding achievement on a number of missions. Ashley has a blue shirt, which means that she is currently undergoing training or is about to start training. A grey shirt means that you are qualified for missions, and you get that when you finish training. You get the navy shirt for an outstanding performance on one mission. The other shirts are the red shirt, which is for younger kids, the orange shirt, for guests, and the white shirt, for staff.'

'So, how long does training last? When will I be a grey shirt?'

'You will start training in about two weeks, and it's a one hundred day course. You will be the oldest trainee there, because thirteen-year-olds are very rarely recruited. You were only picked because you already know about four languages and your brilliant and sport and all subjects.' said Gabrielle. 'I'd better go now, and leave you to unpack and organise your room. I'll take you down to dinner in an hour.'

*

Ashley was pleased when Gabrielle took her to a large table of kids. She recognised a few people: Bruce and Jake were there, as well as the James boy she had met outside Mac's office the day before.

'Everyone, this is Ashley and Jackson. They've just been recruited, so don't be mean.' said Gabrielle.

Everyone seemed curious. They shuffled over, and a short Japanese girl got some chairs from the next table. Ashley sat down with Jackson, next to Gabrielle. Jackson looked awkward as he sat next to Jake, but Jake broke the ice straight away. 'Hey! I'm your room-mate by the looks of it.'

Jackson smiled. 'Yeah... I just wanted to make sure your not holding a grudge against me after the test.'

'No worries. You were awesome. Where'd you learn to fight?'

Jackson shrugged. 'Just the local classes, but I started really young, so I guess that counts for something.'

Ashley was pleased that Jackson had settled in. It would have been terrible if he had been enemies with his room mate.

The short Japanese girl stuck out her hand. 'Hey, welcome to CHERUB. I'm Kerry.'

Ashley smiled. 'Hey, it sure is chaotic here!'

Kerry nodded, but before she could reply, a girl of about ten spoke up, 'I'm Lauren, and this is Bethany, Jake's sister. Oh, and see that tit over there? The one with the ditzy blonde hair? That's my brother James.'

Kerry laughed. 'Yes, yes, yes! An exact description!'

James looked over at Lauren, obviously offended. 'I heard that, prick!' He smiled at Ashley, 'I'm James,'

Kerry groaned. 'James! Why, I ask!' she looked at Ashley and whispered, 'Don't let him rub you up!'

Ashley grinned. She loved this place; it was so lively and carefree. There was nothing to worry about.

*

It was ten at night, but Jackson and Jake were lively. They were supposed to be asleep an hour earlier, but instead, they had both been sitting up playing play station, and telling stories about their life and how they'd ended up here. Jackson lay in a beanbag wearing socks and boxers, his upper body muscles popping out in every possible place. Jake had never seen anything like it. He was more ripped than anyone on campus, including all of the instructors. The thing Jake liked was the fact that Jackson hardly even noticed that he had something extraordinary about him. When Jake asked him what he did to make his body look like that, he simply said, 'I work out and run everywhere; I had a bench press of my own before my house burnt down.'

'So, when did you come here?' asked Jackson.

'When I was four,' said Jake. 'It's a nice place, here. There's always loads to do. The only thing that sucks is that you get so much homework, and you are expected of way more than you would be used to.'

Just then, the door burst open, and revealed Madeline, the junior care worker. 'Aha! Twenty-five punishment laps! Into bed both of you!'

Jake and Jackson got into bed and Madeline turned out the lights, before closing the door softly. Jake sheepishly got up and turned off the play station. 'I'm really sorry. I forgot to tell you: if we do stuff wrong then they make us run punishment laps. That's the annoying thing – discipline is very strict.'

'Oh well,' Jackson said. 'Shouldn't be that hard.'

Jake growled. 'That's easy for you to say...!'

Jackson giggled, 'Oh, why does _everyone_ have to make a point of that!'


	5. Birthday

Chapter 5

Ashley woke up at 7am, and got dressed for breakfast. She met with Gabrielle, Kerry, Bruce and James out in the corridor and they went down together in the lift.

Jackson and Jake were there too, and so were Lauren and Bethany. There were four new looking people at the table that morning. Lauren introduced them. 'Meet Kyle, Shakeel, Callum and Connor. They just came back from a mission early this morning.'

Ashley spotted Mike coming in through the double doors of the lift.

'Hey! Guys! Meet Mike. He was recruited with us too, but he only just got here.'

Everyone looked over to the lift doors, where a boy with shaggy brown hair wearing a blue shirt was standing. Ashley beckoned him over. There was a round of _hello'_s and _Welcome to CHERUB'_s.

Mike settled into a seat beside Callum and Connor and soon the three of them were deep in discussion.

Ashley remembered the time the night before, when Gabrielle had explained the shirt rank to her. She glanced around to see what everyone was ranked. James and Kerry were navy, like Gabrielle. The twins, Callum and Connor were too. So were Shakeel and Kyle. Bethany was a grey shirt, and so was Lauren. She tried to see if there were any black shirts around. She saw a few across the room. They looked about sixteen.

She sighed. It looked like it took a while to get you black shirt.

The first lesson of the day was maths. Ashley was pleased. She loved maths, and she had James in her class. She was happy that she knew someone there, so that she didn't look like a loner. She needn't have worried. Each of the classes had ten pupils or fewer, and you couldn't talk without the teacher noticing. He flashed her cheeky smile now and again, though. The classes were never boring, and the only thing bad about it, Ashley decided, was the fact that she was given three pages of homework. James had told her to expect this, but she was still rather pissed off when she found that she would be spending most of her free-time indoors doing math problems.

There was a free period after maths for everyone, and Ashley laughed when she found that her brother would be using it to run punishment laps with Jake.

'If he's Jake's friend, he's gotta get used to that,' explained James. 'Jake doesn't seem to get that he will be caught every time he does the tiniest thing wrong.'

*

Jackson and Jake walked towards the athletics track, with Meryl Spencer in tow. When they got there, Meryl handed them each a water bottle.

'Stay hydrated, and don't get burnt if you want to take off your shirt. And remember, I am counting! No cheating.'

The boys nodded, before stripping to their shorts and taking a long pull of their bottles.

'Ready? Go!' shouted Meryl.

Jackson and Jake sprinted off, slowing slightly when they rounded the corner.

Jake started to slow down on the second lap, but Jackson just kept on sprinting. Jake groaned. He had wanted them to do this together, not race.

'Wait for me! You said you would go easy!'

'I am going easy! Come on, this isn't hard.' yelled Jackson.

By the tenth lap, Jackson had lapped Jake loads of times, and was coming up behind him for another lapping. Jake felt a burst of jealousy. Why couldn't he be like this? With a sudden burst of adrenaline, he broke into a sprint. If he could at least run a lap equal with Jackson, he would feel like he had achieved something.

Jake could see Jackson's shadow coming up behind him. He picked up the pace, running as fast as he could. Jackson grinned at him and accelerated, too. He ploughed through past Jake, and bounded over the end of the 100m line. Casually, he walked over to where his bottle was and took a pull. Jake slowed down and yelled to him, 'You can't take breaks! Meryl will kill you!'

Jackson shrugged. 'She said twenty-five laps.'

Jake groaned. 'You're finished _already_? How do you do that?'

Jackson shrugged, and walked over to a grinning Meryl. 'You're finished? Good!' Meryl said.

Jake growled, and set off again.

*

Jackson walked into the dining room and grabbed a croissant off the serving counter. He strode over to the table, where most of the kids were sitting, talking. Lauren noticed him. 'Hey, Jackson. Aren't you meant to be on punishment laps?'

Jackson shrugged, as always. 'Yeah, I'm finished.'

Lauren looked at him in disbelief. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah, Jake's still out there. He sounded a bit pissed off when I ran ahead of him.'

Lauren laughed. 'I think he is starting to see that he's not the best at everything.'

Jackson nodded and smiled.

'Come over and sit with us! You can't stand when you're a part of the group!' said Lauren. 'We're playing truths. Want to play?'

'Sure,' said Jackson.

'Ok, everyone. We'll spin this bottle to see who picks the question.'

Lauren sat down and spun the bottle. It landed on Bethany. 'Ok, I think that because we have some new people here that we should ask: "What is something about you that nobody knows."'

Everyone nodded. 'Ok, let's spin to see who answers.' said Lauren.

The bottle spun swiftly and slowed to a stop, pointing at Ashley.

She smirked. 'Well, Jackson knows this, I hope, but...it's my birthday tomorrow.'

'Really?' said Bethany. 'We have to throw a party for you!'

'Yes, yes, yes!' said Lauren. 'No booze, though. James isn't allowed it.'

'Hey! I'm on punishment for it! I'm not allergic!' yelled James, from across the room.

Ashley smiled. 'Thanks guys. Who should we invite? Everyone at the table?'

Lauren nodded. 'Except for Kyle. He's off on another mission.'

'When can I do training and go on a mission?' asked Jackson.

'You can do training when you turn ten, and then you can do missions when you qualify.' explained Bethany. 'Even though you look as if you could breeze through training now.'

Jackson smirked. 'Why is everyone so fascinated with me? Anyway, let's spin the bottle!'

Lauren grabbed the bottle from the floor next to her and spun it. I landed on Jackson.

'Oh great. What can I say?'

'Just tell us something that nobody knows about you,' prompted Lauren.

'Ok,' He said. 'Even Ashley doesn't know this.'

Ashley looked offended. 'I thought you told me everything!'

'Not everything. Anyway, I'll tell you.' said Jackson, grinning. 'I'm a dancer.'

'What! No way!' Ashley cried, before falling out of her chair in laughter.

'Don't laugh...' said Jackson, in a deep voice, which made everyone dissolve into another bout of laughter.

Lauren wiped tears from her eyes. 'What kind of dancing?'

'Hip hop and Bee dancing. I learnt at my boarding school last year. They had a course running.'

'Show us something,' said Bethany.

Jackson gave a joking _Are you kidding me _look, but got up out of his chair and into the middle of the dining room. He began to dance bee style, shuffling his feet and working his arms in and out. He dropped down to the ground, before whirling around in a helicopter roll. After stopping in a peculiar position, he back flipped, back into a standing position. There was a round of applause, and Jackson flopped down into a chair and grinned. 'Not that hard. I'll teach you if you want.'

Shakeel, who had just joined the group, called out, 'Is there anything you _can't_ do?'

Jackson shrugged. 'I can't sing.'

'So you're not musical?' Shakeel smirked.

'I play the guitar, but that's about it.' Jackson nodded.

Ashley grinned. 'All shall be revealed at my party tomorrow!'

Lauren and Bethany nodded in agreement.

'It shall.'

*

Ashley walked down the long corridor to her room, carrying a big box of food. Her birthday party was about to start and Lauren, Bethany, Jake and Jackson were busy helping her decorate the room.

'So, what are you little boys gonna do about your nine o'clock curfew?' asked Ashley.

Jake smirked. 'That's the point. We don't have a curfew.'

'Madeline will skin you alive if you don't get to bed!' cried Ashley.

'I've got it,' said Jackson. 'We go off to bed at nine, and then stuff our beds with pillows. Then we jump out the window and come back and join you.'

Ashley sighed. 'Alright then, just don't bring me to blame when you're getting a hundred laps from Meryl.'

Jake grinned. 'Sure thing.'

Lauren walked out of the room and yelled that the party was about to start. Doors opened everywhere, and a few came out of the lifts. Soon the room was full of kids. Everyone was there: Gabrielle, Kerry, James, Lauren, Bethany, Callum, Connor, Shakeel, Mike, Jake, Jackson and Bruce. There were also a few others there which she didn't know.

A cry erupted as James hurled a peach down onto a black shirt's head. The black shirt looked pissed off and disappeared back indoors.

Lauren looked at Ashley. 'Do you like James? Come on, admit it. I can see it in your eyes!' She grinned as she made hypnotic like arm movements.

Ashley went red. 'A bit, but not that much.'

Bethany sidled up against her. 'I think that's OK. All the girls like James!'

Lauren smirked. 'Yes, yes.'

'Ashley smiled. 'So is he always like that?'

'Pretty much.'

Jake poked his head inside the circle. 'Ladies, we're playing truths again. Want to play?'

The game of truths went on all night. The two boys successfully escaped their curfew, and had come back to hear Ashley playing a violin and Gabrielle singing.

After a while the game got rowdy. A few neighbouring Cherubs poked their heads round the door and told them to keep the noise down.

Jackson borrowed someone's guitar and played quiet music through the night. Whenever someone asked him how he did it, he answered as always, 'It's easy,'


	6. Basic

Chapter 6

Ashley felt like she was floating through life. Every day was the same: get up, go to classes, hang with the group and stay up very late, before crashing into bed.

It had been two weeks since she had been recruited. Basic Training was starting the following morning, and even though she was fit and intelligent, Ashley was still worried. It had sounded horrible, from what her friends had described to her. Jackson, on the other hand, didn't seem to care. She really wished that she had his confidence. She was a fit as him, but she was still worried.

The next morning, after waking herself up, Ashley noticed that a bag and a very dirty looking uniform were sitting by the door. She put on the clothes, before looking at all the stuff in the bag. There was loads of equipment in there.

They were very prepared for training. Ashley had her hair back in tight braids so that it wouldn't get in her eyes, and Jackson had shaved his hair back to a number three, so his shaggy mop wouldn't make it harder than it already was.

After meeting Jackson, Jake and Mike, who were also taking training, they walked quickly and quietly to the basic training compound. The compound was a mess. Everywhere was muddy, and it smelt like a sewer. When they stepped inside the training building, Ashley saw ten rusty looking beds, and the four other trainees, kneeling beside their beds. The head training instructor, Mr Large, stuck out his hand. 'Welcome to basic training. For the next one hundred days, every day will be the same, and there are no holidays.'

Ashley smirked as Jake groaned deeply.

'There is nothing to laugh about, Miss Lockett,' said Large. 'You will take Basic Training seriously if you want to make it through, and as you are already thirteen, I would be extremely serious about this,'

Ashley nodded.

'Ok, kiddies, now that you're all here, I will make my welcome speech,' Large said. 'This is Miss Smoke and Mr Speaks, who will be helping me to look after you all. Now, if you would all follow me, I will give you a tour of the room. These are your beds, obviously, with your lockers next to them. To your left you can see the showers, and the wash basins. Ahead of you, you can see the meals table, and to your right, down the corridor are the classrooms. Every day you will get up at 0545. You will have a cold shower, and run the assault course before breakfast. After breakfast, you will endure two hours of physical training until school starts. At 1400 you will run the assault course again, and your lunch will be served at 1500. After that is two more hours of physical training.

'At 1800 you will return here and shower again, and wash your clothes in the sinks. Next you get dinner, and then you do your homework and go to bed. If you get sick of training, you are welcome to leave the compound, but you must resume it from day one if you want to be an agent,'

The trainees nodded. Large pulled out a clipboard.

'These are your training pairs,' he said. 'Number one is Mike Stevens. Number two is Sam McNorton. Number three is Grace Scott. Number Four – Jake Parker,'

The four trainees walked over to their beds and stood silently. Ashley could tell that Jake wasn't happy about his partner.

'Number five is Ashley Lockett. Number six is Jackson Lockett,' said Large.

Ashley smiled at her brother, glad to be paired with him.

'And, lastly, number seven – Sally McHugh and number eight – Rachel Harris,'

Large led the eight trainees out to the assault course. Ashley and Jackson stayed quiet. They knew that they were both thinking the same thing – This was going to be tough. Even though they were fit and strong, Ashley still had her doubts as to whether they would make it through.

The assault course was easier than Jackson had imagined. He had thought that it would be endless climbing and crawling through mud, but they finished miles ahead of anyone else and got a thirty minute rest before they spotted Jake and Grace coming over the last obstacle in the distance.

The physical training wasn't terribly hard for Ashley. She was already extremely fit and the idea of 100 push ups went in one ear and came out the other. Jackson was much the same, and while they were watching all the other kids falling on the ground with tiredness, they were doing each exercise effortlessly. Sally and Rachel were the worst. They were the sort of girls who hated the very idea of _walking_ in mud, let alone rolling in it. By the end they were sobbing and their usually long silky hair was a huge mat of mud and knots.

The lessons were the easiest part of the day. Weaponry was all about guns and knives, Jackson's favourite. Survival skills took place outdoors. It was interesting, and taught the kids all about shelter building, fire building and cooking in the wilderness. Espionage was all about gadgets, and it was Ashley's favourite lesson.

The first lesson of the day was Language. All the trainees were given a new language to start from scratch, and Ashley and Jackson got Russian. They both had known a little Russian before their parents had died, and didn't find it all that hard. The only thing that pissed them off was the teacher, Mr Grwgoski. He showered them with spit as he spoke and whacked their hands with his metal ruler.

*

The next ninety eight days were all the same.

On the hundredth day, the trainees woke up, drowsy from not being able to sleep. They were in the Brazilian Jungle, in a small lodgers cabin, and Mr Large was standing in front of them.

'Congratulations! You have finished Training!' he boomed. 'But first, just to make sure you are all fit and healthy, I want 1000 push ups! And to make it extra hard, you will have a 10kg weight strapped to your back. Anyone stopping before they have finished has failed all of training and will have to start again from day one,'

The trainees didn't dare to groan. Quietly, they strapped their weights to their backs and began. Ashley and Jackson led. Before anyone was on 50 they were on 200. Ashley looked over at her brother, who was casually pushing up an down. She knew what he was thinking; _what is his problem? This won't make us any fitter and It's easy!_ She smirked.

After five minutes, they were finished. Large smiled at them and handed them a present. It was grey.

'Yes!' yelled Ashley, before ripping of her blue shirt for the last time. When her head popped out of the neck hole, Jackson was standing there.

'That was easy,'


	7. Trouble

**Hey guys!**

**Really sorry this has taken AGES to put up, but I have been busy with loads of other stuff. I know that this recruitment thing is boring at first, but I promise it will get better… SO much better. I already have plans… muahaha.**

**Peace out people.**

Ashley and Jackson sat with James, Gabrielle, Callum, Connor, Kerry and Bruce in Mac's Office wearing grey t-shirts. It had been a week since they had qualified as agents, but it had not fared so well. Amidst great celebrations, and a rowdy trip to the bowling alley, where they and six other Cherubs had got into a fight, they were all in huge trouble. Now, they waited for the unforgettable. Punishment.

'You are unacceptable!' barked Mac. 'You made a show of yourself on the streets, and Mac had a very hard time keeping it out of the papers!'

He slammed a pile of briefings onto the table. 'Recruitment missions for all of you! This behaviour is not tolerated.'

The kids groaned.

'Here are your briefings. Read them through and when you've done that go and pack your bags. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning.'

Each of the kids grabbed their briefing and began reading. Ashley opened hers and began to read.

_Recruitment Mission Briefing for Ashley Lockett_

_Do not remove from room_

_Do not copy or make notes_

_Greensand Home for Orphaned Children_

_The Greensand Home was first opened to Children in 1974, located in Darwin, Australia. Since then it has grown from just a dozen children to over one hundred. The agent has been chosen to go to this location as she has significant intelligence of the area of Darwin due to a student exchange tour last year. She is to take on the role of Ashley Kimmont, a British girl. Her family was killed in a car accident a year ago. After being expelled from school, she was moved to Greensand Home to make a new start._

_Main targets_

_The main targets for this recruitment mission remain a very small amount. There is no mission controller in the home or in the area. Therefore, the agent must work her way into the home, gathering information on children who meet the requirements for sufficient recruits. Please see the Requirements section below if not familiar with this procedure._

_Requirements for sufficient recruits_

_No family ties_

_Well above average intelligence_

_Physically fit_

_No heart defects or diseases that would affect their passing of basic training_

_The agent will be given possession of a mobile to call their mission controller if they need to be contacted. When the agent has found a recruit, they must arrange to meet their mission controller to organise for the recruit to be drugged and brought back to CHERUB Campus._

_The CHERUB Ethics Committee passed this mission on a 3:1 vote, regarding that all agents understand the following:_

_1. This Mission has been classified LOW RISK. The agent will be subjected to low level violence and has the ability to call a mission controller at any time._

_2. All agents have the right to refuse this mission and give up at any time_

Ashley closed her briefing and waited for the other kids to finish reading. They all seemed depressed about recruitment missions but Ashley was rather excited. She liked Darwin, with its hot weather and outback towns.

She snapped out of her dream as she heard Gabrielle asking Mac to leave. She stood up with her and left the room to go and pack. This would be a fun experience!

*

Ashley sat in the passenger seat of a rusty old van, her bags at her feet and the radio blearing. Her mission controller, Tom, drove the van. Tom was living about two kilometres from the home. He had a scruffy beard and a gruff Australian accent.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the home. Tom, who was posing as her social worker, got out and rapped on the door of a one-story camp style building. A short fat lady opened the door, and the smell of cigarette smoke wafted out.

'Hey, new blood is it? I'll get Jamie.' said the woman. She yelled into the darkness and a dirty looking man appeared.

'Come, I'll help you with your stuff.'

Ashley looked back at Tom and gave him a _talk to you later _look, before following Jamie down a dark hallway. The hallway branched out into more rooms. Finally, Jamie stopped at the end of the hallway and opened a door. It was a dormitory with about six beds in it. There was nobody there, probably because they were all at school.

Ashley took the last empty bed and dumped her stuff on it, before surveying the area around her. There was hardly any space, and all the cupboards were lined up along the wall. There was a small locker next to the bed and a pull-out desk that folded out from the wall behind her. Altogether, it looked like a dump. After walking around the room and looking at all the other kids' stuff, she plopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. There were hundreds of hooks and thumbtacks where kids had stuck posters and hung things. She looked up when a tall boy with long blonde hair appeared at the doorway. He wore a Gravis t-shirt and cargo pants, and skate shoes with thick red laces. The boy looked at her and swung in the doorway.

'New here, aren't you?' he asked. 'I'm Justin.'

Ashley nodded. 'I'm Ashley Kimmont. I got moved down here after I got expelled from school a few weeks ago.'

Justin nodded. 'I've been here ages, since I was five. That's eight years.'

'Wow, that's ages!' said Ashley. She was starting to like this guy already. He might even be good for a recruit: looked strong and brave. She didn't know anything about his schoolwork though.

Just then, three other kids emerged from the hallway, carrying backpacks and wearing grins on their sweaty faces.

Justin looked at them. 'Where's Bailey? She's meant to be with you guys!'

The kids shrugged, and Justin scowled at them.

'Guys, this is Ashley. Ashley, meet Matt, Jake and Jenny. They're room mates here.'

The kids nodded to her, and Ashley smiled. 'Nice to meet you, in this dump of a place.'

The kid named Jake nodded. 'Yep, a dump is what you'd call it. The food's terrible, the pool is slimy and it stinks of cigarettes!'

**Hey guys!**

**Really sorry this has taken AGES to put up, but I have been busy with loads of other stuff. I know that this recruitment thing is boring at first, but I promise it will get better… SO much better. I already have plans… muahaha.**

**Peace out people.**


	8. Wind

**Hey guys!**

**Really sorry this has taken AGES to put up, but I have been busy with loads of other stuff. I know that this recruitment thing is boring at first, but I promise it will get better… SO much better. I already have plans… muahaha.**

**Peace out people.**

It was late afternoon, and Ashley, Justin, Jake, Matt, Jenny and Bailey were sitting in the dormitory, playing play station on Ashley's TV. Justin's Art Vs Science CD played softly in the background and a bowl of cheese balls and chips sat in the middle.

Jenny swerved her controller, narrowly missing the bowl, as her car crashed into the barrier on the screen. She scowled and grabbed a handful of food, before standing up and brushing the crumbs off her school uniform.

'I never win in that silly game.' she groaned. 'Boys always win.'

Jake grinned. 'It's our awesome skill. Girls can't do that sort of thing.'

Bailey hit him over the back of the head. 'Don't be so sexist!'

She was only nine years old but her hands were strong and Jake moaned and dropped the controller, his car running off the track and crashing into a wall of tyres.

'Look what you made me do!'

Jenny smirked. 'Don't think you deserved it?'

Jake sighed, and Justin and Ashley stopped the game. Matt looked pissed off but didn't bother arguing. The game was as good as over because everyone had quit.

'Better go to dinner.' said Justin. 'Kirsten gets angry if we're late.'

'Who's Kirsten?' asked Ashley.

'She's main house parent - The one who smokes about a hundred fags a day.'

Ashley sauntered down to dinner with the rest of the crew and sat at a table right in the centre. Jake turned to her with a serious look on his face.

'Listen. This place is not a place where you want to mix with the wrong sort of people, and that all determines on where you sit in the dining room. Over to your right you can see the nerds. Don't ever sit there, or your social life will not stand a chance. Straight in front of you are the Barbies. They are not the sort of people you want to talk to, because all they talk about is makeup and guys.'

Jake stopped talking and looked scared as a large group of teenage boys strode past. They wore steel-capped boots, heavy metal t-shirts and menacing glares. He started talking again when they were out of ear-shot.

'That's the gang. Never mess with those guys. Ever.'

Ashley nodded and stood up to get some food. As she did, a member from the gang pushed into her and grinned.

'Hey baby, wait til' tonight!'

Ashley looked at him with a scowl on her face.

'Pervert.' she muttered.

The food was nothing like the grub she got at CHERUB. What she got here was mushy potato and peas with a half-cooked steak and a glass of water. There were no desserts and kids were sent straight back to their rooms to do their homework afterwards. Because of this, most kids spent most of their time talking rather than eating, in order to waste their homework time. The only kids who actually left after dinner were the members of the gang. Ashley guessed that they weren't going to do homework. It was more like vandalism that came to picture.

At 8:30, two hours after dinner had started, there were still kids finishing. Ashley sat at the table with Jake, Justin, Jenny, Matt and Bailey, talking about fun times and crappy school assignments. She was pleased to hear that all of them except Bailey knew martial arts, and said that they would defend her if she was ever in trouble. Ashley said that she too knew them, and that just about sealed the deal.

Half an hour later, Kirsten came in and yelled at them to hurry up and go to the hall as soon as possible. Hearing this, the kids slowed down incredibly and moved like snails, which irritated Kirsten even more. When she had finally got all the kids out of the dining room, she led them down a long corridor to a large room filled with rusty seats. Ashley took one, and Justin sat down next to her. The other four sat in the next few seats along the aisle. Kirsten marched up to the microphone on the wooden platform with a determined look on her face.

'OK, kids. This is another unexpected meeting.'

The kids groaned and one of the Barbies swore from her back seat.

Ashley looked at Justin. 'What's wrong with the meetings?'

'They have them about every month. It's where they call out all the 'naughty' kids and embarrass them. They also introduce new people, so I guess you'll be up for show.'

Kirsten scowled at the noise in the room and continued.

'Everyone, quiet! We have few new kids here, Ashley and Eve. Come up here, girls.'

Ashley grunted and stood up, before following a blushing Eve to the platform.

She could see all of the kids now; there looked about fifty. _So much for the two hundred they said they had_, thought Ashley.

After a few embarrassing moments, she was allowed to sit down and then came the real show. A kid called Billy Bradford was called up. He was short and fat, with long hair down to his shoulders.

Kirsten welcomed him with a fake looking smile, before turning to the audience.

'This piece of filth you see here… is a thief!'

A faked gasp shot up around the room and all the kids burst out laughing. There were a few cries of _Go Billy _and _you rule_, before Kirsten yelled into the microphone. Unfortunately, it was facing to toward the speaker and a deafening piercing sound screeched around the room.

All the kids screamed before bursting into another round of laughter. Someone jumped up and opened the door, and everyone poured out of the room.

Ashley ran with everyone else, laughing and shouting at the tops of their voices down the corridor and into their separate rooms.

Back in the room, Ashley collapsed on her bed and dissolved into another round of laughter. Matt came in and grinned.

'You should have seen her face when the mic screeched!'

The others all poured into the room, and sat on their various beds. Finding the strength to get up, Ashley picked up the play station remote and locked the door.

'Who's up for another game?'

*

Ashley awoke to a pillow being stuffed in her face. She fought it off and sat up, grinning at her friends as they pulled away with the pillows.

Justin looked serious. 'You have to get up! Look, it's seven thirty. Breakfast is now, and school starts at eight-thirty.'

Nodding, Ashley rushed into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later in the school uniform, which Jamie had given her the night before. She followed the others down the hallway and into the dining room.

Breakfast was rice bubbles or cornflakes and home brand juice. Before heading off to school, she grabbed the mobile she could use to call Tom and slipped it into her pocket.

The trip to school involved walking to the bus stop a kilometre away, before taking a forty-five minute bus ride to the school. Ashley got on the bus and sat next to Jenny, while the others scrambled for seats. The quiet kids played cards and traded weird looking objects, and the louder kids yelled across the aisles and hit each other with sticks and broken off handrails.

When they got to the school, the kids scrambled off the stifling hot bus and out into the fresh air. The school itself looked like a building taken straight out of the dark ages. The walls were crummy and the windows were tacked up with tape.

Ashley walked to her classroom with Justin. He was also in year nine and they were in the same class. The classroom was dirty and twenty old desks sat in rows down the centre of the room. They walked to the back of the room and picked a pair of desks by the window so at least they would get some fresh air. The teacher walked in an ushered them all to sit down.

The lesson was a complete bore. It was much different to CHERUB, where there was always a teacher on your back telling you to work. Here, kids threw things around the room, disrespected the teacher and didn't do any work what-so-ever.

It was rather like the children's home she had been in before being accepted into CHERUB.

At break time, Justin and Ashley met up with the others and they walked to the corner store down the road. The sky was beginning to darken and black storm clouds rolled over above them.

After school, the six walked home after being dropped by the bus. The wind was howling and the sky was a dirty black.

Jake looked up at the sky and remarked. 'Looks like we're in for a storm. We should hurry home before the rain catches us.'

Ashley nodded, and looked up. The clouds looked like they would burst any minute.

They ran back to the home and got indoors just as the rain started bucketing down. The wind howled even louder that night and the windows creaked like they would fly off at any moment.

Ashley forgot all about it and fell asleep, no knowing what awaited her in the morning.


	9. Destroyed

**Hey guys!**

**Really sorry this has taken AGES to put up, but I have been busy with loads of other stuff. I know that this recruitment thing is boring at first, but I promise it will get better.**

**Peace out people.**

When Ashley awoke, she had no idea where she was. Everything around her was black and she could tell it was still in the early hours of the morning by the darkness in the sky. Then reality hit her._ There was no roof over her head_. Her heart beating fast, Ashley pulled herself out of a small opening and was shocked at what she saw. Everything around her was destroyed. Buildings were in ruins, and the rain was still pelting down everywhere. Luckily the wind had stopped.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. It her mini radio.

'We're getting reports about a bombing in northern Australia. It is estimated that over 30,000 people are already dead and many others are injured…'

Ashley turned off her radio, not wanting to hear anymore. She had to get out of here. She knew that she would never find her phone and that she would never be able to find Tom, her mission controller. Stepping over a broken desk, she saw a hand.

On the hand was a small drawing of a bug; Justin's hand. He had drawn it on there that day in English when they were bored.

Scared, she tried her best to lift up the rubble. There were a few bricks but eventually she uncovered his body. Quickly, she checked his pulse. It was normal, thank goodness.

She shook him gently.

'Justin! Wake up!'

He made no sound, and Ashley knelt on the ground and began to cry.

'Please, don't die! I… I love you.'

At that moment, he sat up. 'Love who?'

Ashley looked up, her eyes relieved. 'You're OK!' She brought him into a hug, and cried some more. 'What are we going to do?'

Justin looked shocked. Quietly, he got up and surveyed the area. Everything was destroyed, and he could see fire in the distance. 'I don't know.' He whispered. 'I just don't know.'

Something revved up the street, and Ashley whirled around. A tank was charging down the across the rubble. She dived down and took Justin with her, before crawling around behind the rubble.

Justin looked scared. 'Tanks? What is this, World War III?'

Ashley shrugged. 'I don't know, but we have to get out of here. Now.'

With that she popped up, and ran quickly and quietly to a small shed, that didn't look as if it had been damaged. Justin followed, his eyes looking pleading.

Ashley looked at him. His clothes were completely ruined, with big rips and filth all over them. She felt sorry for him, but guessed that he had come off lucky compared to some people. She snapped back into action when she heard voices coming from outside the shed.

She dragged Justin into a small cupboard with her and shut the door, just as a group of men came in.

'Listen.' said a voice, with a slight Japanese accent. 'I want every kilometre of this area searched thoroughly, and you are to kill any remaining survivors. I do not want anyone else to be passing on reports about this.'

There were a round of yeses and nods, before they all departed, leaving Ashley and Jackson in darkness. 'We have to get out of here.' he said.

*

Looking through the keyhole to make sure that nobody was around, Justin slid open the door and ducked through it, before diving headfirst into a bush. Ashley followed, but tripped over a rock in her angst to get away. She fell face first into the red outback dirt and groaned. Helping her up, Justin crept around the shed and looked around. There was nothing but outback. Miles and miles of outback.

Ashley looked too, and then she spotted something. It was the airport - or what was left of the airport. There was one small aeroplane on the runway. She began running quietly towards it, with Justin in tow. He sounded anxious.

'What are you doing?'

'We have to get on that plane. It's our only chance.' said Ashley. She got to within ten meters of the plane and stopped to check for the men. When she saw nothing, she ducked down and ran towards the door. Climbing in, she looked at the controls and figured it wouldn't be that hard to fly it. It was about the same as a car, minus all the confusing computers and buttons.

Justin climbed in and quietly shut the door, before looking at her.

'Have you ever flown one of these before?'

'No.' Ashley grinned.

'Great to know. Where are we going?'

Ashley sounded calm and confident. 'London. I know a place where we'll be safe.'

She started the engine and put her foot down, the plane blasting off at hundreds of kilometres per hour. After a few scary moments, they were in the air, and Ashley turned to Justin with a massive grin on her face.

'We did it!' she hi-fived him and smiled. They're eyes met for a moment, but then he turned away to focus on the GPS. Ashley sighed. The right time was yet to come, she thought.

For the next few hours, they didn't say anything to each other. Their minds were too full. Finally, Justin broke the ice.

'Why do you think they did that? Bombed the town, I mean.'

Ashley sighed. 'I don't know. It's definitely something we should avoid.'

They continued flying on in silence. Ashley could tell Justin was sad. His whole world was gone. No memories had been saved. Everything was destroyed, and all hope lost. For the first time in ages, Ashley remembered why she was here. There didn't seem much point in going on with it, but she knew that Justin was a good recruit. He was fit, intelligent, and mature. She had no idea if he had family ties but that didn't matter; they would have thought he had died anyway. His only sister, Bailey, was probably dead.

'Justin?!?'

Whirling around, Ashley saw a small figure in the doorway. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, and her face was smudged with mud. It was Bailey.

'Bailey? What, how did you get here?' cried Justin, sweeping his sister into a hug. She started crying as she clung to him, forcing him to sit down so that he didn't fall over.

'I was afraid you were all dead.'

Justin sighed. 'I thought you were too. How did you get here?'

'I woke up early, and I heard voices outside.' sniffed Bailey. 'I crept out to see what was going on and I overheard them talking about a bomb that was about to go off in a few minutes. I didn't even think, I just ran. I hid in the storage compartment, and then I heard your voices, so I came out.'

Justin nodded. 'Ashley's taking us somewhere safe now. Everything's gonna be OK.'

'Where are we going?' Bailey perked up, looking at Ashley.

'London. We're currently flying over the Middle East. Another couple of hours and we'll be there.'

Bailey nodded, and proceeded to sit down in an empty pilot chair. Justin turned back to the navigation system and Ashley turned back to the various selections of buttons on the control panel. They flew on in more silence for what seemed like hours until Justin finally looked up from the GPS.

'London is in sight,' he said. 'Where can we land?'

'An empty field is probably best,' said Ashley. 'Hopefully nobody will bother us.'


	10. A Journey and an unexpected meeting

**Hey guys!**

**Just to let you know, I have introduced a character from my other story, "Chay's Story". I would recommend you read that or skim through it at least before you read the rest of this story so that you don't get confused. **

**Peace out people.**

Bailey jumped out of the doorway or the aeroplane, and surveyed the surrounding area. It was and endless flatness of farms and the odd cottage every mile or so, probably the English countryside. There was not a person in sight, but it was hard to see with only the moon and the occasional street light to go by.

'Um, where to now?' she said, yelling through the doorway. Ashley came out with three pairs of dirty converses.

'Not sure. Here, put these on; I found them on the plane. Sorry if they don't fit well but we will need shoes getting around here.'

Bailey nodded and grabbed the smallest pair. They were slightly too big but she didn't complain.

Justin came out with the GPS and grabbed the bigger pair of shoes. 'It says that we are east of London, and that the city is about two miles west. We should get there before sunrise, but I'm not sure since we've flown for a day and a half.' He slammed the door and pulled a dirty flashlight out of his pocket.

Ashley led the way, and for two hours they walked. The ground was wet and the scrub was up to their knees, so they made progress slowly. Bailey tripped on a rock and fell into the mud, and knocked the flashlight down with her. The light flickered out and darkness fell upon them.

'Crap,' said Bailey. 'Sorry guys.'

'Not your fault,' said Jason. 'It was hardly charged. All it needed was a little bump.'

Bailey got up and tried to swat off the mud. It was all mashed into her hair and her clothes and made her look like a pig after a mud bath. Ashley tried not to laugh and started walking again, with the others close behind. They strolled over a hill and the edge of London came into view, its light making the going much easier.

Justin sighed and gave the others an exhausted smile. 'We made it.'

'Yep, now all we have to do is find the place I know well. The place I came from.' said Ashley. Justin nodded.

'Where's that?'

'On the west side of London; if we keep going now, we'll be there by morning, depending on what the time is now.'

Bailey pulled out the GPS and checked the time. 'It's four am. Looks like you're right. London's a big city, right?'

Ashley nodded. 'I used to live in north London before my parents died and I was fostered. I barely knew my way around and I had never even thought about venturing out to central London.' They set off down the hill at a steady pace. They were very tired from the jet lag and from walking for almost two hours, but the grass had recently been mowed and for the first time in ages they had proper light. There was hardly anybody walking around in the street, so they didn't have to be seen and questioned as to why they were all muddy and scarred, and in Justin's case, burnt. It was six o'clock when they reached the west side of London. It was a dirty suburb, and graffiti and rubbish lined the streets. Ashley led the way and as the sun rose, the city lights went out and they had to move to the bushes along the road so that they wouldn't be seen. After fifteen minutes, they came to a clearing. Bailey's head snapped up.

'Footsteps!' she whispered. She pulled the others behind a bush and dived behind a bike rack. She watched as an extremely short girl with shiny white hair rounded the corner. She looked small enough to be six but Bailey could tell she was older than her by the serious look on her face. When she reached the bush next to the bike rack, where Ashley and Justin were hiding, she turned and stared.

'I know that you're in there. I can hear everything you said. Why are you alone and covered in mud?' For the first time, Bailey saw her face from a proper angle. She had a small delicate nose and mouth, and her eyes were a very golden brown. They seemed to sparkle in the morning light and seemed rather freaky.

Justin poked his head out. 'Who are you?'

'Chay. Chay Janett.' At the mention of this, Ashley's head shot up.

'Chay? It's me, Ashley.' She said it with caution, because she had hardly known Chay when she had come to CHERUB, but had heard many rumours that she was some kind of superhuman. Not someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of, she thought. Chay looked at her with sadness in her eyes. Ashley was fascinated as how they changed colour.

'Ashley! What are you doing out here, covered in mud at 6am on a Sunday morning?' She sounded slightly worried, so Ashley gave her a look.

'It's a very long story. This is Justin and his sister Bailey. I met them in Australia when I was sent there to a care home.' she said, emphasising the last part of the sentence to indicate that she had been on a mission. 'There was a terrible bombing there and we managed to escape. We arrived here this morning on a plane we found at the airport nearby.'

'I heard about that on the news yesterday.' Chay nodded.

Bailey spoke up. 'How do you two know each other?'

'We used to go to the same school.' said Ashley, quickly. 'Well, we'd better get going. Chay, would you like to come with us?' said Ashley, giving her a look.

Chay nodded quickly, before leaning in and whispering in Spanish, so that Justin and Bailey couldn't understand them.

'I'm on a mission in these parts. Campus is only a few miles away, but I'm sure I could take them back to "my house", and Ewart my mission controller could drug them up. They look like suitable recruits and Ewart looks like me so he could easily pass as my father.'

Ashley nodded, gave Chay a look and faked a frown to cover up. _'Why are you speaking in Spanish to me? You know I don't speak Spanish!'_

Justin smirked. 'You know Spanish?'

Chay nodded, pleased at Ashley's good job of cover up. 'Yep,'

'Cool, so where are we going now?'

'You can come to my house if you want,' said Chay, giving Ashley a look. 'My dad won't mind.'

Bailey looked pleased. 'Thankyou, Chay. I know it's hard to thank you, because you look sixteen, and I'm only ten.'

Chay smirked. 'I'm twelve. Do I really look sixteen?'

'Yeah, I can see it in your eyes. You're so much more serious than most people your age.' Chay smiled, her eyes now a silvery- grey. She was starting to like Bailey. She was more intelligent than any ten-year-old she had ever known, and she was the first person who had noticed how old she looked.

Ashley watched as Chay led them down a dark alley to a dimly lit house. She rapped on the door and Ewart answered. He spoke a few words to her in Spanish, before trying not to look suspicious.

'Nice run, Chay?' he asked, before purposely noticing Ashley and the others. 'Ashley? It's been a while, and who are these kids?'

'We're not kids, and we escaped the bombing in Australia. Chay said we could stay with you.' said Bailey.

Ewart was surprised at her, for he had never met a girl so forthright and grownup. Her Australian accent was as nasal as ever, and her face had this look that said she had been through a lot. It was the sort of look he had seen on a few agents' faces after near-death experiences.

'Well, you're certainly welcome here. Chay will show you upstairs to the bathroom and you can wash all that mud off your face. Oh, and you can call me Mark.' said Ewart, using his false name.

Justin smiled and followed Chay and Bailey through the doorway and through the living room. They ran up the stairs and into a small room with a bathtub, a sink and a toilet. Ashley dived through the doorway and saw Bailey and Justin stripping down to their underwear. She did the same, and within ten minutes they were all clean and wearing old clothes that Ewart had found for them.

Bailey wore some of Chay's, and Justin and Ashley wore some hand-me-downs of Ewart's. They were too big, but they were warm, so nobody complained.

Half an hour later, Ewart approached them. Ashley had just finished breakfast and was patching up her grazes with huge bandaids. Bailey and Justin were doing the same.

'So, why don't you tell me all about it?' he asked.

Bailey looked up, close to tears. 'It's been horrid. All my friends are certainly dead. My home is destroyed, and all of my memories of my parents are gone. The only thing I have left that is a part of me is Justin.' She let go of the bandages and clung onto him.

Justin looked sad. 'Ashley woke me up and everything was destroyed. We managed to get to the airport runway close by and take off in a plane there. Halfway here, we found Bailey in the storage compartment. We arrived here this-morning, and then Chay found us down the road about half an hour ago.'

'Well, you're welcome to stay with us, until we can find you a place to go. For now, you need sleep. Go up the stairs and go right to the spare room. Sleep as long as you like.'

Bailey smiled and finished plastering. 'Ok, thankyou so much.' She wandered up the stairs and disappeared into the room, with Justin following.

Chay looked in from the next room. 'Nice job,' she whispered. 'I'll get the needles.'


	11. Homecoming

**Hey guys!**

**I am working on this story every night, so every two nights I should have a new chapter up. Sorry if it takes a while, I am still thinking up ideas. : P**

**Peace out people.**

Ashley and Chay sat in a minibus, driving back to CHERUB Campus. The rain poured loudly outside, streaking down the windows as if threatening to wash in at any moment. Ewart Asker drove, and the muffled sound of rock music came through the closed door to the cabin. Looking out the window, all you could see was fog.

Ashley watched as Chay pulled out her phone and began texting someone. She had an Apple iPhone, something Ashley desperately wanted. After a few minutes, the loud music and engine stopped and Ewart got out and slammed the door. He opened the sliding door wearing a mackintosh and yelled to them.

'We're back at campus. Hurry up and get out, it's pouring with rain and I'm getting wet.'

'What about our stuff?' asked Ashley.

'When it stops raining, we'll get them out.'

Ashley and Chay jumped out and sprinted down the path to the main building. When they got there, Jackson was waiting with two blue shirts.

'Ash! Talk about finally!' he yelled, running out into the rain and pulling his sister into a hug.

Ashley smiled and then smiled even more when she saw Justin and Bailey.

'So, do you have to show them around?' she asked, breaking away from him and ducking undercover before she got even more drenched.

'Yeah, Mac asked me to. We haven't started the tour yet because of the rain, though.'

'Right, mind if I tag along?' said Ashley.

Jackson shrugged. 'Sure.'

At that moment, James, Kyle and Bruce came out of the lift and grinned.

'So you're back? How was it?'

Ashley stayed quiet. 'Actually, it was scary.' She paused. 'I'll tell you later. We're going to the dining room, I'm starving. Want to come?'

The boys nodded, and together they all walked down the corridor to the dining room. It was empty, but a bowl of chips and a jug of cordial sat on the counter. They helped themselves and then parted, going to their separate rooms, despite James' protests.

Ashley got to her room and slipped on her grey t-shirt, just as Meryl Spencer opened the door. She held out a black t-shirt.

'This is for you. Congratulations on making it back here. You displayed a tremendous amount of courage, and saved two lives, which are now new recruits.' She gave a huge smile. 'We don't normally give out black shirts on the first mission, especially a recruitment mission, but we had Mac bend the rules slightly.'

Ashley didn't know what to say. 'Really? I'm… a black shirt now?' None of her friends were black shirts. They were all navy or grey, except for Chay, who was a green shirt. 'Thank you so much!'

Meryl beamed. 'It's my pleasure.' She slid the door shut and left her alone. Ashley looked in the mirror when she had put it on. She couldn't believe it. _A Black Shirt!_

She opened the door and ran to Jackson's room. He opened the door slowly, but stopped completely when he saw her.

'Wow, you're a black shirt?'

Ashley nodded.

'I'm so proud of you, you're a good sister.' He wrapped his arms around her. 'Come on, I said I would meet Bailey and Justin downstairs. Chay's coming too.'

He pulled her out the door and ran down the corridor. Chay poked her head out and followed, catching them up. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, Justin grinned from a table in the middle of the room, where he and Bailey were enjoying Florentines with chocolate sauce. As the others came to sit down, Bailey noticed Chay's green shirt.

'What does green mean? I thought there was only orange, red, blue, grey, navy, black and white.'

'A green shirt means that you don't have to do basic training, but you still need to learn how to use equipment needed for missions,' said Chay. 'I've been a green shirt for two months so far. I'm looking forward to being a grey shirt.'

Bailey nodded. 'So is basic really that bad?'

'Well, to an extent,' said Jackson. 'It was easy for me, because I was already trained in various martial arts and fit, but for most others it may have been harder.'

'Right,' said Justin. 'So when do we start?'

'As far as I know, it will be in about two weeks: enough time to do some running and swimming to get your fitness up.' said Chay.

Ashley nodded. 'It's the worst hundred days of your life, so you really have to get up your fitness or you will have a really hard time. There was a girl who was slightly chubby on my course and she was given a hard time from the moment the instructors saw her.'

'So, what's the time? We should probably start the tour now. The rain's stopped.' said Jackson, looking over at Justin's watch. 'Five o'clock; that's enough time. Let's go around the main building first.'

*

Bailey walked next to Jackson in the big group, heading back to the main building after the tour. She didn't want him to know it, but she had a small thing for him. There was something about him that made him different from any other boy she had ever met, though she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She was hopeful that he felt for her too, but she had one problem: she wasn't pretty!

All her life, she had thought herself as ugly. Her nose was too big; her hair had that habit of curling the wrong way. If only she had makeup, she could maybe get something out of him. The only problem was, she didn't have any money at all.

Bailey snapped out of her thoughts as Jackson waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention.

'Hey! Wakey wakey, where are you going?'

Bailey looked at Jackson and realised that they were alone. She must have wandered off, and he had followed her.

'Sorry, I didn't see where I was going.' she said. 'Where are we?'

'The lake, behind the basic training compound. I wondered where you were going, so I followed you.'

'Well, I wasn't going anywhere really.' Bailey smiled at him. 'So… how long have you been at campus for?'

'About six months.' He smiled back, and then turned around as a short boy wearing a red shirt approached him. 'Hey, Ruben.'

Jackson smiled and turned back to Bailey. 'After I qualified, I got in a bit of trouble and got sent on a recruitment mission to Australia, like Ashley. I recruited Ruben. He'll probably be starting basic with you, when he turns ten in a few weeks.'

Bailey grinned at him and stuck out her hand. 'Hi, I'm Bailey.'

The kid looked shy, but shook her hand. 'I'm Ruben.'

Jackson seemed rather annoyed, and Bailey wondered why. True, Ruben was fairly attractive, with his spiked bleached blonde hair and deep brown eyes, but she wasn't interested in him. After all, he was a year younger than her. Jackson was thinking a bit too far there. He waved his hand in front of them, as if cutting them apart.

'We'd better get back to the main building. Dinner's in an hour.'

Ruben looked slightly annoyed, but still didn't let too much of it show in his face. As they all walked back, Jackson walked closely with her, like he was shutting Ruben out.

*

As Bailey, Ruben and Jackson walked through the doors of the main building, Ashley and Justin jumped out of a corner.

'Boo!' yelled Justin, as all three of them jumped. 'What took you guys so long?'

Bailey shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets. 'We thought we'd take the long way round. What's the time?'

'Six-thirty. I vote we go to the food store and stack up.' said Ashley, perking up.

'I don't have money.' Ruben said. 'Can I borrow some?'

Jackson scowled. 'It's free, silly.'

'Right,'

They headed down the corridor to the lift and went up to the dining hall, which opened out into a huge foyer with a small room off to the side which acted as the food store. There was nobody in there, and all five of them grabbed various chocolate bars and soft drinks to take up to their rooms. Afterwards they went up to Ashley's room and messed around until dinner.

The dining room seemed newer to Bailey than she remembered, probably because of the amount of kids there. About three hundred kids, aged between seven and seventeen, sat chatting loudly and some red shirts were even screaming at each other. Jackson led her and Justin over to a large table filled with teens and pre-teens.

'Guys, this is Justin and Bailey. Justin and Bailey, meet Kyle, Bruce, Kerry, Gabrielle, Callum, Connor, Lauren, Bethany, Jake, Mark, Shak and Mo. There's also James, Chay and Ashley, but you already know them, of course. There are usually a few others here, but you'll meet them later.'

Everyone moved over and got chairs for them, and there were a few hellos from various kids. Justin sat down with Ashley and James, and Bailey pulled up a chair next to Jackson and Jake. They seemed to be in an animate conversation over a homework assignment and whether they would get into trouble for not doing it. When Jackson finished, he turned to her.

'This is my best friend, Jake. We were red shirt room-mates.'

Bailey nodded. 'I'm Bailey.' At that moment, the whole table stood up and began walking towards the food counter. Bailey followed and grabbed some food. It was roast beef.

Heading back to the table, Ruben sidled up beside her. 'Hey, so you're settling in ok?'

Bailey shrugged. 'Sure. How long have you been here?'

'About three days. What's up with Jackson? He seems to have something against me all of a sudden.'

Bailey leaned in so that nobody would hear. 'Don't tell him this, but I think he's jealous of you talking to me.'

Ruben raised his eyebrows. 'Really? Well, I don't see who wouldn't. You're probably the prettiest girl I've met in my life.'

'Thanks.' Bailey looked embarrassed. 'I never thought I was pretty.' She considered this. She had long strawberry blonde wispy hair and green eyes, medium height and not at all fat. Maybe it was true. Ruben looked at her seriously.

'Well, you are.'

They arrived at the table and Bailey and Ruben parted, going back to their separate chairs. Jackson came up behind her and surprised her, making her almost drop her plate in surprise. She giggled.

'Don't do that! How would you like it if I dropped my roast all over your boots?'

Jackson grinned and sat down. 'Roast beef – my favourite. Wouldn't want to waste anything would we, Bailey?'

Jake smirked. 'Jackson's flirting.'

'Shut up!'


	12. A Movie and a shaking accident

Ashley was gradually falling back into the campus routine. Every morning she would get up at 7:00 and have breakfast at 7:30. Lessons began at 8:30 and continued until morning tea at 10am. Lunch was at midday, and then came lessons until afternoon tea, then chill-out time until dinner. Usually they hung around on campus, but occasionally Mac gave them permission to go off campus, usually bowling or skating. After dinner, it was a scramble to do homework before supper at 10pm and bed at 11pm. The only day she could sleep in was Sunday, because of the extra lessons on Saturday mornings.

On this particular afternoon, she and eight members of the group were going to the movies. She sat in a minibus with Jackson, Bailey, Justin, James, Kerry, Kyle, Lauren and Bethany. The noise was horrific and it was stuffy inside because of the baking hot weather. Directly in front of her sat Jackson and Bailey. In front of them were James and Kerry. Across from her were Lauren and Bethany and Kyle sat in front of them. Next to her was Justin.

Ashley had no idea where their relationship was going at the moment. Boys were so hard to understand. He seemed to like her, but sometimes it just didn't seem to work out properly.

The bus jerked to a stop outside the cinema and everyone started getting out.

The film was a twelve, but the four ten-year-olds could all pass for that. The film turned out to be fairly childish, and they all messed around, not paying attention until an old lady in front of them told them to be quiet.

Eventually, they settled down and watched the movie.

Bailey sat next to Jackson in the back row. They were well away from the others, who were scattered around in various seats. They were talking, mostly about how they had ended up at CHERUB and what their lives were like before they were recruited.

Ashley noticed them, and decided to pay Bailey a visit when Jackson went to the gents. As he left, she got up and sat next to her.

'So, do you fancy Jackson?'

Bailey blushed. 'Well, a little I guess.'

Ashley smiled. 'I happen to know him very well, and my instinct, I think he likes you too.'

'Boys are so hard to understand.'

'I know. I happen to be dwelling on that very thought at the moment.' said Ashley.

'You like someone too?' asked Bailey. 'Who?'

Ashley smirked. 'You're brother. But please don't tell him that.'

'Really?' asked Bailey. She giggled and sat back in her seat. 'Thought so.'

Jackson and Justin stood in the men's bathroom, washing their hands. Justin turned to Jackson.

'So do you fancy my sister?'

'Why do you want to know?' Jackson grinned.

'Well, you just seem to flirt with her a little more than anyone else and I have happened to notice.' said Justin.

'I guess, sort of.' Jackson said. 'Aren't you having some kind of affair with my sister?'

'Yes, I suppose you could call it that.' Justin swept his blonde mop out of his eyes. He finished drying his hands and headed towards the door. 'But just pretend I never said that.'

The two boys arrived back inside the cinema just as the movie was finishing. The credits started rolling up the screen and people began to gather up their belongings and leave. Jackson ducked back into the bathroom as an oversized lady waddled past them to the door. After about a minute, the other seven emerged from the darkness, chattering loudly and acting rowdy. Ashley and Bailey came over to them, and Justin looked sternly at Jackson, with a look that said _don't you dare say a word about this_.

Jackson nodded solemnly, and grinned at Bailey, who was busy rolling up a bag of lollies. Ashley strolled up to Justin and walked with him. Nobody said a word.

'So, how was the movies?' said Jake. He was walking with Jackson down the corridor to the history classroom to collect draft papers. They had an exam the very next morning and they hadn't even studied yet. This would be a long night.

'Yeah, it was ok.'

'Hows it going with Bailey?'

Jackson groaned. 'Why does everyone keep asking me that? Just because I like her…'

'Oh, so you do like her? Why didn't you tell me!' asked Jake, grinning.

'The bad thing is, Justin asked me if I liked her at the movies. I didn't know whether he would tell her, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings by denying it, so I said that I sort of liked her. Then he says he will swear to secrecy because he doesn't want me telling anyone that he's having an affair with Ash.'

'Righhhhhhhht.' said Jake. 'So the brothers and sisters are together. Well, that works out. Your families will be very close!'

'Oh, do stop fooling about, Jake. This is serious.'

'I know… so are you going to ask her out?'

'I don't even know if she likes me yet, so if she says no, that would just make things awkward for us.' said Jackson.

'Come on, Jacko. Why on earth would she say no? She flirts with you, she seems to trust you, and you're pretty good looking for a guy.'

'Right, that just sounds suss, Jake.'

'I'm serious…' Jake trailed off for a second. 'Well, how about I ask her if she likes you?'

'Thanks never works, you know that.' They reached the room and grabbed the pile of drafts out of a box. Jackson quickly flipped through and found their copies, before dumping the rest of them back into the box and replacing it where it had been on the teacher's desk. Jake looked annoyed.

'I suppose so, but can I ask her anyway?'

Jackson thought for a second. 'I think you'll probably be better off asking Ash. She spends quite a bit of time with Bailey and she might have told her something.'

He grabbed the draft off the desk and walked back out into the corridor, with Jake scurrying behind.

Jackson grinned. 'So, do you fancy anyone?'

'Well…' said Jake warily.

'Who is it?'

'Uh, Lauren. But I would really prefer if you didn't tell her that.'

'She's a whole year older than you. You don't suppose she's a cradle snatcher. Nah, boys are more the like.' Jackson grinned even more.

'Bailey's older than you.'

'Yeah, by seven days – like that makes a difference.' said Jackson. By this time, they had reached the main reception. The lift was slow and when they finally reached the top floor, they only had just enough time to drop off their papers before the cry for dinner came down the hallway. Kids started coming out of doors and soon chatter filled the main building hallways. Jake and Jackson rushed downstairs and were pleased to see that the table was fairly empty, making it easier to pick appropriate seating. They picked the seats in the middle of the table, careful to reserve ones for Ashley, Justin and Bailey, and a few others. After a few minutes, Ashley came sauntering in with Justin, looking pissed off.

'I have done absolutely _nothing_ on my math assignment, and it's due _tomorrow_. Could this get any worse?'

Jackson nodded. 'Do you get the feeling that the teachers _purposely_ give you massive assignments, just to piss you off?'

Justin laughed. He had the most contagious way of laughing that it immediately set the others off. Bailey came in and looked confused.

'So, what have you not been telling me?'

Ashley straightened up. 'Oh, nothing,' she giggled. 'It's just that your brother has the funniest way of laughing at something.'

'Yeah, I guess you could call it that,' Bailey smirked and sat down next to Jackson. 'But it gets annoying after a while… or at least that's what I think.'

Justin looked offended and Bailey suddenly burst out laughing. 'Sorry, but you look so funny when you're offended.'

'Thanks, I think,' said Justin. He sat down with Ashley across from Bailey, Jake and Jackson and grabbed the jug of water on the table. He turned the glass the right way up and poured himself a drink. A few more kids came in and sat down at the table. By this time, the dining room was full of kids of all ages, and the noise was deafening.

A few red shirts were playing tag around the tables in the far corner and suddenly had a clash, sending chairs scooting across the dining room and causing a few tables to topple onto their sides. One of the red shirts screamed out in pain and the noise died down immediately.

Everyone started crowding around to see what had happened. Jackson and Bailey ran over, and pushed through the crowd until got to the centre. Lying under a table was Ruben. Bailey flinched when she saw that his leg was bent at a weird angle, and that pieces of bone were sticking out.

Meryl Spencer pushed through to them.

'Ok everyone, get back to your tables,' she turned around and picked out James and Chay, who were swinging on chairs nearby and trying not to look at Ruben. 'You two – go and grab a stretcher from the medical unit.'

Chay set off at once, and James ran out behind. A few minutes later, they emerged from the hallway carrying a stretcher, with the doctor running in behind.

'A broken leg, you say? Hows that?'

Ruben grunted. 'I slipped and fell on my leg. Then the table must have fallen on top of me.'

Chay picked him up in her arms and laid him gently on the stretcher, careful to keep his leg still. Ruben winced in pain but didn't say anything. A few kids turned away and went back to their tables, but most stayed to watch. When the doctor had looked at Ruben and assessed the situation, he picked up one end of the stretcher and Chay picked up the other. They hurried out of the dining room and James followed.

Meryl turned to the crowd. 'Ok, this event might have shaken you up, but you really need to eat. Go and eat, and we promise to take care of Ruben.'

A few kids scowled and went back to their seats, but Bailey, Jackson and almost everyone else was hit with that sad feeling you get when you know that someone you are close to is in extreme pain.

As they turned away from the scene of the accident, Bailey looked at Jackson.

'Ok, that was scary.'


	13. Briefing

'Get over here, now!' yelled Meryl Spencer. 'Mr Large will not tolerate this!'

Bailey covered her ears and blinked the rain out of her eyes. She was on the athletics track with Justin and three other trainees, and they were doing their daily fitness exercise to prepare for Basic, which was starting the following day.

Meryl was angry because one of the kids was slowing them down. Her name was Roxanna and she was twelve.

Roxanna, or Roxy for short, was a tall and chubby girl, with dark brown eyes, dark hair and a stuck up nose. Looking at her now, she looked more like a giant mushroom. Bailey couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her.

Meryl Spencer called them all over into a group and began lecturing them for the hundredth time that day. Bailey's head was beginning to hurt but she knew she had much more coming her way. With basic training starting the next day, she knew that she would get no peace and quiet for a hundred days, maybe even more than that.

After the lecture, and a few more laps, they were free to go. Bailey rushed up to Justin looking annoyed.

'Silly Roxy is gonna hold up the whole training with her attitude.'

'Tell me about it,' Justin grinned. 'But we will probably get away with more because Large will be devoting all his energy to her,'

'I suppose so, but I'm still not looking forward to training, even though we've had lots of time to prepare.' said Bailey. 'Jackson said it's not that hard, but somehow I think he was more prepared than we'll ever be.'

'Yeah, Ashley said the same thing. I heard they were really fit when they first came here. They knew karate and everything.'

'We know karate.' Bailey smirked.

'Well, yeah. But they are, like, fifth dan or something. I'm only a second.' Justin opened the door to the main building's side entrance and ducked inside. It was warm and the smell of fried bread came wafting in from the dining room. They hooked up their rain coats on a nearby coat rack and rushed into breakfast, rubbing their hands.

Most of the kids were already there, and Justin was pleased to see that some seats had been saved for them. He sat down next to Ashley, and Bailey sat on the other side, still shivering.

'Where's Jackson? I feel like a loner because Lauren's not here,'

'Bruce grinned. 'He's got a mission briefing. It's his first proper mission, so he said he would skip breakfast.'

'Oh ok,' Bailey grinned. 'Tell him thanks for ditching me,'

Bruce laughed. 'Knowing him I am sure he will be ashamed.'

Jackson poked his head around the door. 'Oi. I heard that!' He grinned and sat down next to Bailey and Bruce.

'I thought you had a briefing.'

Jackson smirked, 'I did. I'm going on the mission tomorrow. It's in Los Angeles, but that's all I know at the moment. I have to get back for another briefing after breakfast.'

'Wow. I wish I could go to Vegas. I would hide in your luggage and come with you but Mr Large would notice I was missing.' said Bailey.

'You're starting basic tomorrow, aren't you?' asked Jackson. 'That sucks. I won't be back when you finish because this is a long one.'

'Really?' Bailey sounded sad to Jackson, which was probably a good sign.

'Yes, but when you've finished you can text me,'

'No, I just meant that more than three months is a long mission,'

Jackson laughed. 'Some people I know go on missions for more than a year. Three months is nothing.'

Bruce grinned. 'Well, thanks for ditching me,'

'We're ten, and you're twelve. It's not worth talking to people like you.' Jackson said, with a twinkle in his eye.

Bailey laughed, but she was still sad. Jackson would be gone for almost four months, and she still had basic to worry about.

Jackson woke up early and got dressed the next day. He wanted to catch Bailey before she went off to basic training, and _hopefully_ hint to her that he liked her. It was a quarter to five when he reached her room and he knocked softly.

Bailey opened the door slowly, looking tired but still prepared, dressed in her uniform for training and carrying a backpack stuffed with equipment. She smiled.

'Came to say goodbye.' said Jackson.

'Thanks,' Bailey replied, closing the door and sitting down on her bed. 'I shall feel lost when I finish basic, because you really are my only friend, apart from Lauren. Ashley's got Justin and I don't know Jake and Bruce very well.'

'Well, you won't be lost because Lauren is coming back in a few weeks. Plus, Ash and Justin don't mind your company.'

'Yes, they do,' said Bailey. 'They're practically going out,'

'Well, maybe I'll come back early.'

Bailey grinned mischievously, 'You'd better,'

'Well, anyway, I'd better say goodbye because if you don't go now Large will be on to you,' said Jackson. He pulled her into a hug.

'OK, see ya,' Bailey untangled herself and headed towards the door. She took a deep breath. 'Well, here goes Basic.'

'It's not that hard; don't let it worry you,'

'Sure. Well, thanks. I'll text you when I've finished.' She smiled and opened the door, taking a big step out. 'Bye,'

Jackson watched the lift close as the only girl he cared for, apart from Ashley, disappeared. He wouldn't see her in over four months, maybe even longer than that. He left the room in a subdued mood, and went back to him own room. It was five o'clock.

It had been three hours since Bailey had headed off to basic. Jackson had already packed and he was sitting in the mission control room on the eighth floor of the main building, with Kyle, James and their mission controller John Jones. He passed out the briefs.

'Ok, as I promised yesterday, we have your briefs ready. The mission starts today. If you accept we will be leaving at mid day.' The agents nodded, and opened their briefs.

_Mission Briefing for Jackson Lockett_

_Do not remove from room 184_

_Do not copy or make notes_

_(1) The Goshters_

_The Goshters are a small gang group situated LA, California, which have been operating for over twenty years. They are a potentially dangerous gang and are of the most wanted for various criminal acts._

_Their name comes from the founder, Peter "Whipper" Goshter, who is the current acting leader._

_Whipper, now aged forty-five and divorced, was born into a family as an only child. His parents badly abused him and when he was two, he was taken into a children's home and grew up among many other orphans. When he was five years old, he began school, but was at the teacher's despair. He would not obey them, and when he reached second grade he began skipping school with friends almost every day. At the age of eight, he seriously injured a fifty-year-old man while looting in what he thought was an abandoned house. Having had enough, the carers at the home passed him on to another home. Even though this home was much stricter than the previous, nothing could stop him, and once he hit puberty at age twelve, he naturally began hankering after drugs._

_The home Whipper was in could not stop him wagging school, dealing drugs and drinking, or committing crimes. By the time he was fourteen, Whipper had been arrested nearly twenty times. He belonged to a small gang called the Crushers. The crushers were much like the Goshters, but only had ten members. They had a strict code of conduct. One of the requirements was that each member had to take a new name. Goshter had a small black whip which he used when attacking rivals, and because of this, he was named Whipper. They also had to commit an act of murder to be promoted as a senior member. By the time a kid was thirteen, he was expected to become senior. Any member who didn't follow this code would most likely be dragged out into a field and stoned. Because of this, Whipper lived in fear._

_When he was twenty-two, the police raided a meeting and arrested almost all of the gang. Whipper and his best friend Masher escaped. Feeling a loss when the gang was broken up, he started up the Goshters, which still stand today. The same strict code of conduct was applied to the new gang._

_(2) The role of CHERUB_

_The three CHERUBs and their mission controller will be taking on the role of the McNaughton Family. John Jones, a divorced thirty-three year old man and his three boys, Jackson, Bruce and Kyle, will move to central Los Angeles, after John and his wife went through a nasty divorce. They will target the three boys of Whipper Goshter, hoping to gather information to bring the gang down. They will attend the same school as them, and will be placed in the same class groups as them, as follows:_

_Jackson Lockett: Aidan Goshter (11)_

_James Adams: Ryan Goshter (13)_

_Kyle Blueman: Joe Goshter (16)_

_(3) The Mission_

_The Ethics committee passed this mission on a 3-1 vote, with the expectation that all agents understand the following:_

_This mission has been classified HIGH RISK. Agents will be exposed to violence and certain drugs._

_Warning: any agent who consumes Class A drugs will be expelled from CHERUB._

Jackson closed the briefing and looked up at John Jones. When the other two looked up, John looked back seriously.

'We are an acting family now, but unfortunately we do not all look the same.' He turned to James. 'You have blonde hair, and the rest of us have dark hair. To avoid suspicion, the ethics committee have decided that if you are to participate in this mission, we will have to get out the hair dye.'

James groaned. 'Do we have to? It will ruin my look!' Kyle began to laugh hysterically, which made James even madder. 'I'm serious, do we have to?'

'It's that, or no mission. We cannot afford to be suspected. When we are finished with this meeting, get over to the medical building, they'll be doing the job for you. You can then style your hair the way you want. To be honest I think you will look better.'

'How dare you!' James groaned. 'Ok, I'll be there.'

'Good. Well, now that's settled, you can go. Remember to pack everything you will possibly want there. There will be no going back to fetch wanted items!'


	14. Bully

'Dying your hair brown? You're not serious!' Bethany laughed hysterically on the couch of the games room, with Jake gasping for breath on the floor holding his sides. The other ten-or-so kids in the room were laughing too, and James just sat on the pool table looked pissed off.

'It's for a mission. I can't help it!'

'Well, looks like I won't have to worry about being cheated on.' Kerry giggled.

A few more kids came in and started laughing when they heard the news.

'Well, I'd better go to the dreaded room and get this over with.' James finally grinned. 'I might actually look better! If I do, Kerry, you might want to take that back.' He winked at her and left the room. A few people in the corridor jeered, but James ignored them. Besides, he would be able to get back his natural colour afterwards.

*

The three boys and John Jones were sitting in a small plane, with their entire luggage at their feet. They had been flying for about eight hours already, and it was dark outside. The seating arrangement was cramped and Jackson desperately needed to stretch his legs. After a few more hours, the plane came to land in Los Angeles. On stepping out the door the sun was overly bright and it was hotter than they were used to. The pilot's assistant grabbed their luggage and proceeded to cart it off to the baggage collection.

Jackson and the assistant looked over at James who was standing beside the plane in an Arsenal shirt, Nike tracksuit and flip flops. His dark brown hair glistened in the sun. James saw them grinning and scowled. He turned to Jackson.

'This is totally not my style, and if you say anything more about it, I'll kick your arse.'

'Well, we'll see.' Jackson smirked. Kyle noticed him and nodded.

'Don't you remember he beat Bruce? I don't think you will have much luck.'

John came out of the plane and squinted at them through the light.

'There's a car waiting at the front entrance. I'll give you one hour to hang around and check out the stuff here.' The boys nodded and went in up the ramp to the departure gates. They swerved to avoid an old man who was struggling with his wheel-chair and arrived at customs. After checking out, they ran down to the lobby and straight to the ice-cream parlour which was stationed next to a small souvenir shop.

The choices of flavour were huge compared to back in London. Jackson picked cookies and cream and James and Kyle tested their stomachs on purple and pink swirl. They sat down at a group of couches by the huge windows that overlooked the tarmac. Right in front of the glass was the nose of an air-bus. It seemed pretty awesome to Jackson, who hadn't ever been on a bigger aeroplane than the titchy one they had come in.

As he was finishing, a group of rowdy looking teenagers walked past. Half of them were sucking cigarettes and a few carried cans of beer. One turned to Kyle. At the same time, he exhaled, showering him with smoke and the stench of beer.

'Where'd you kids come from? Haven't seen you round here before.'

'London. Moving here for a few years.' said Kyle, trying to disguise his accent so that he didn't get picked on too badly.

'Our father just got divorced,' added James.

'Riiiigghhht.' said the guy. 'Well, we'd better be going then. Maybe we'll see you around.'

Kyle nodded and turned back to the others. 'OK… scary,'

'You said it.' said Jackson. 'But I suppose kids grow up more quickly here than in England. I mean, a few of those guys couldn't have been more than twelve. It's not like we go around at that age acting like grown men.'

'Well, seeing as my hair is making me look suitably silly, I would like to shop up some better clothes.' James stood up. 'Coming?'

The other two nodded and stood up to follow him.

*

Bailey lay in her bed in the training building, freezing cold. The first day of training had been a complete blur. Never had she been exposed to so much exercise at the one time. But that wasn't the worst of it.

She was partnered up with Roxy, and Justin was with another kid called Murray who was one year younger. Bailey still had no idea why Large had thought they would make a good team. They were arch enemies.

Mr Large got up from his chair and closed the door, taking out the last arc of light.

Next to her, Roxy snored loudly. Her makeup was smudged all down her face because Large hadn't allowed them a shower. The result made her look like an extra for a horror film. On the other side was a small girl about her age called Stacey. She was from France, and she had dyed jet black hair, delicate green eyes and a small mouth.

She was not yet asleep. Bailey leaned over and whispered to her.

'Are you ok? I mean with the whole "training" thing.'

'Yeah, sort of. I don't like my training partner, though. She's fat and lazy like yours. I bet she'll drop out. How about you?'

Bailey nodded. 'Yeah, same with mine. She's lazy as. Won't pull her weight. She's really mean too.'

'You have an Australian accent. Are you from Australia!?'

Bailey nodded.

'Really? I've always wanted to go there. What's it like?'

'It's OK, but the town I lived in got destroyed by the Japanese bombing.' replied Bailey.

'Wow. You must have been through a lot. I wish I was your training partner. Being with silly old Roxy must be a nightmare!'

Bailey smirked. 'It is,'

Suddenly, Roxy sat up. 'What are you on?'

The two smaller girls turned over like lightning in their beds, to see a rampaging Roxy. She got out of bed and headed straight for Stacey, and covering the mouth so no sound could escape, she held up Stacey's leg and jumped down onto it. There was a sickening crunch and Stacey screwed up her face in anguish. Roxy stepped over a trembling Stacey and grabbed Bailey by her neck. She wrapped her massive hands around it and held it there until her face was blue. After a minute, when she was sure that Bailey was unconscious, she let go and the body crumpled to the floor.

Roxy kicked Stacey in the side of the head to make sure they were both out cold, and dusted off her hands and went back to bed. Not one person in the room stirred.

*

After one hour of shopping through the airport centre, the three boys and John Jones met at the front entrance. It was rather crowded, but soon enough they were in the taxi and heading towards their new home. A few minutes later, they pulled up at a cosy looking house in a deserted street. The front showed off a paved driveway and brick house. On going inside, there was a brightly lit hallway, kitchen and eating area and there was a pool out the back. There was a big room which all of them were to share, and another room for John Jones.

The three boys dumped their stuff in the room and collapsed on the beds. Kyle pulled out his phone and checked for texts from back home. He had three missed calls from his cousin back at campus. Hastily, he texted back.

"What's the matter?"

A reply came a few minutes later. "You know Roxy? She got rly angry at me and ma friend and then she strangled my friend and broke my leg."

Kyle gasped and texted back. "Did this happen during training? Who's the one who got strangled?"

"It was Bailey. She's OK and she's gonna cont training, but I'm out. Unfortunately, Large didn't believe our story when he found us."

James saw Kyle's eyes widening. 'What's up dude? Thoughts got you?'

'No… remember my cousin Stacey, from France?'

James nodded.

'Well, she and Bailey were talking last night after training. It turns out that Roxanna heard them talking about her and so she broke Stacey's leg and strangled Bailey,'

James looked shocked. 'You're not serious!'

'I'm serious. Jackson, I'm afraid your girlfriend is in a bad situation.'

Jackson came in. 'She's not my girlfriend, Kyle. What happened?'

'Roxy strangled Bailey and broke my Cousin Stacey's leg. She's still doing training though.'

'Is she OK?'

'Yes, she's OK.'

James sighed. 'When are you gonna admit you like her?'

'I already did.'

'Really? To whom did thy confess?' James grinned.

'I told Jake. That's all.'

'Ok, well when are you going to ask her out?'

Jackson groaned. 'Will you _stop _asking me that? Ever since I became friends with her you've been going on about us having a thing for each other.'

'But you do,' Kyle butted in. 'No offence, but it's really obvious.'

'Fine. To answer your question, I don't know.'

James groaned and Jackson stood up.

'End of conversation. I'm hungry.'

'What is it with young boys and food?' The voice of John floated in from the hallway. 'Every minute of the day you need something to fill you up.'


	15. Eggs

The schools which they were to attend were a local primary called St Peter's for Jackson, and the high school next to it named Gordon Heights High, for James and Kyle. It had a huge amount of pupils, despite its bad reputation. Luckily, it was only two miles away and the three of them could easily get themselves there without any hassle. James was rather self-conscious about his look as he walked to school. He had picked what he though were cool clothes – skinny jeans, baggy t-shirt, fluoro green canvas shoes – but he was worried about his hair. What if the girls there went for blonde guys? James had always wanted to go to LA, but not with brown hair.

A few other kids were around, riding bikes around and making their way to school. None of them had seemed to notice anything wrong with him, so he settled down a little and concentrated on the events of the day. By the time school finished, he knew that he was expected to have at least made himself known to Ryan Goshter. He hoped like hell it wouldn't be terribly hard, because the stress of fitting in on the first day at a new school is the same for almost anyone. The other two were thinking the same.

Jackson pondered over the possible ways to get close to Aidan and possibly make friends. If he didn't, that would let the mission down and might even get him kicked off back to campus.

Soon, the buildings came into sight. Jackson parted with James and Kyle at the gates. It was the first day back after the spring break, and the playground was filled with kids looking depressed about coming back to school and working. For the first time in his life, Jackson felt out of place. Before this, he had always had friends to walk and talk with, and even when he had to move to a care home after his parents died, he still had Ashley to lean on. Now, he felt self- conscious about how he looked, like what James had described to him when they were walking to school. He also doubted that he would be able to have anything to do with Aidan. The mission briefing hadn't said anything about his friends or his personality. He could be some loser with no friends, or he could be the most popular kid in the school.

Jackson walked to his classroom with a note for his teacher. There was a line of kids outside, waiting to be sent in. Looking towards the back of the line, he recognised Aidan from surveillance photos in the briefing. His hair was much longer and wilder and covered his eyes slightly, but it was still enough to prompt his memory. Trying to look normal, Jackson went to the back of the line and stood behind him. There didn't seem to be any other kids talking to him, and he was extra quiet. Jackson decided that he had been right about him being a freak but he noted the fact that he looked very strong, and the other kids didn't pick on him.

Just then, their teacher came out of a door opposite and yelled at them to shut up. He pulled out a clipboard folder as every kid went quiet.

'Before I register you, are their any notes for me or requests?'

Nobody moved. Jackson decided that he should probably give the note now, as the teacher looked pretty serious and he didn't want to take any chances. He stood up and tried to look confident. He walked to the front of the line, handed the teacher a note and walked quietly back to where he was sitting.

'We have a new student with us! This is Jackson McNaughton. His family just moved here from London.'

All the kids looked back at him. Some smiled, and others just looked bored like new arrivals were nothing unusual. The teacher smiled.

'Well, Jackson, I hope you make lots of new friends here at St Peters. You can call me Mr Usher.'

Jackson nodded and Mr Usher began to mark to roll. A girl who was at the very back of the line looked at him. Her eyes seemed to bore into his, but they were still kind.

'I'm Rosie.'

Jackson started to smile. 'Hi I'm Jackson.'

Aidan looked over at them. 'I'm Aidan.' Jackson smiled and nodded.

'Hey… Does our teacher have some kind of problem?'

'He has a mental disability. I would stay out of his way.' said Rosie.

'Yeah, Ok,' said Jackson. '

Mr Usher led the class through the corridor to their classroom. Jackson asked if he could sit next to Aidan. Aidan shrugged. He didn't seem like much of a talker.

The lesson was a complete bore. Nobody payed any attention to Mr Usher, and they talked over him like he wasn't even there.

At recess, a short kid with a face of freckles who looked about eight came bouncing over to their group. Rosie smiled. 'CJ! How were your holidays?'

'Good,' said the boy, his cheeks stuffed with cake. 'Mum took me to see New York. We went to all the big shops.'

'CJ, this is Jackson.' said Aidan. 'He just started here today.'

'Hi.' The boy smiled eagerly at Jackson and put out his hand for him to shake. 'I'm CJ, short for Charles Junior.'

'Hey.' Jackson grinned. 'I'm Jackson, short for nothing.'

CJ dumped his lunch in a corner. 'So how were all your holidays?'

Rosie shrugged. 'Yeah, OK I guess. Jed and I went to the films a few times, but that's it.'

CJ saw the look of confusion on Jackson's face and explained. 'Jed's her boyfriend.'

Jackson could swear he saw a small flash of jealousy in his eyes, but before he could think about it, it was gone.

The playground had got increasingly rowdy since break had begun and looking around, all you could see were kids racing around, throwing food at each other and jumping in and out of classroom windows. The less rowdy, which were mostly the girls, were sitting in the corner of the playground under a massive oak tree surrounded my bushes. Jackson noted that every now and then, boys would look over while they were playing to see if the girls were taking notice. Sadly for them, the girls were too busy painting their nails and gossiping.

The reality of this going on in a primary school sort of shocked him, since the only other schools he had been to were private boarding schools, except for one day in the school at the children's home in North London.

Rosie sighed. 'Come on guys, this is boring. We've got an hour so we might as well make some use of it. Lets head on over to GH and bomb off the windows.' CJ nodded, and followed her. Aidan got up and followed too. Jackson had fast found out that Aidan was more of a follower than a leader, but this was good if you wanted to make good friends.

The walk to the nearby high school nearby took only half a minute, but it took ten because the janitors had mended the hole in the fence which they normally escaped out by. They had to run all the way to the back of the premises to their back-up escape, which involved squirming underneath a fire hose box and walking all the way around the outside back to the main road. To avoid being seen, they crawled under bushes and ran flat out for the occasional large gap between trees.

Gordon Heights High was a huge, brick structure surrounded by trees and litter. None of the teens there were at recess yet, so all that could be seen were a couple of bunkers smoking behind a shed and a Phys Ed class running cross country around the athletics track. As they crawled under the fence, a paper dart flew out of a nearby window. CJ looked up and saw Joe Goshter, Aidan's brother. He yelled to him.

'Yo Joe, mate. You got some spare cigarettes for us? We got an extra today.' It was obvious he didn't mean it, but Jackson still got a bit of a shock. He had said it especially loudly so that the teacher in the class could hear. His plan had worked, and the teacher now stood at the window, her face like thunder.

CJ pulled a raw egg out of his pocket and pegged it at the window next to her. Unfortunately, it narrowly missed and hit the teacher in her face, spraying egg white and yolk all over her and some of the students in the front row. She stumbled back and yelled out, but she had raw egg stuck in her throat and her cry didn't go much further than the end of the veranda outside the classroom.

Kids grabbed their bags and jumped out of the open windows, giving CJ high fives for getting them out of their maths lesson. He grabbed more eggs out of his pocket and passed them around, and then proceeded to lift up a drain cover under the window and pull out numerous cartons of a dozen eggs.

The laughing class helped themselves, bombing the classroom windows and running around the class block throwing eggs through open windows.

A scream erupted as the eggers bombed a normally quiet sewing class, and more and more kids came out of neighbouring classes to join in the fun.

After a few minutes of chaos, the loudspeaker boomed above them. It looked like the teacher had got to the principal.

"_All pupils report to the assembly room now!"_

Rosie looked at CJ, Aidan and Jackson. 'We've got to hide, quick. If Principal Gipson gets onto us, we're dead.'

CJ nodded and dived under the fence. There was no time to go through their properly cut hole. Aidan and Jackson just managed to squirm under, but Rosie was stocky and she couldn't even get her shoulders under. After a few tries, she gave up.

'You three get back to school now. I'll find my own way.' The boys nodded and dashed off towards the back of the school, while Rosie desperately looked for a place to hide until the chaos died down. All that there was to hide behind was a thin bush; she would easily be spotted. The only thing to do was to run flat out to the back of the school so that she wouldn't be seen, and then cut her way out.

Suddenly, the school Janitor rounded the corner and saw her. He immediately took out his radio and started speaking into it. Rosie ran for her life.

If she got caught here, she would definitely get suspended or maybe even expelled from her school. Buildings rushed past her in a blur. The school was on a slope, so to get to the back all she had to do was sprint down hill.

As she was arriving at the back of the school, her foot slipped. The grass path was very steep and her body was thrust forward, forcing her to nose-dive into a rose bush to the side. The thorns made massive rips in her shirt and cuts on her face and arms. Rosie groaned and closed her eyes as she exited out of the back of the bush and rolled down for the remaining ten meters. Everything went black.

'Hello? Wake up!' Rosie felt herself being shaken and she groaned. She must have been knocked out. As she opened her eyes, she saw a rather large rock next to her. She turned her body with great effort and looked at the person who was standing over her. He had long dark brown hair, but his eyes were a very startling blue. He reminded her of one of her old boyfriends from when she had lived in Canada. As her vision came into focus, she saw herself.

Her top was ruined, and her miniskirt and boots were filthy. When she put her hands up to her face, she could feel the dirt in her hair, and the black paste that came off her face confirmed that her makeup had run and was now decorated with dirt.

Holding her head, Rosie sat up. The boy took her hand and helped her to her feet.

'Are you OK?'

Rosie scowled. 'Do I look OK?' she sat back down on the rock and tried to get the dirt off her face. Her cuts were stinging like mad. 'Have any staff see me here? What's the time?'

'No, they haven't. About five minutes ago we were told to go to the assembly hall. I was going there when I saw you fall. I came over to see if you were OK, but you were knocked out clean by that rock so I stayed with you.'

'OK…' Rosie stood up. 'I need to go home now. I have to change and clean myself up before recess ends.'

'It's not recess.'

'I go to St Peter's, dumb ass, and if you want to know what we were doing here, you'd better hurry over to the assembly hall. They are having some kind of discussion.' Rosie pulled out a pair of pliers from her pocket and cut a neat hole in the fence.

She crawled through, but as she was about to leave, she turned back.

'What's your name?'

'James McNaughton,'

**Hey there! Thanks loads for reading and reviewing this story. I'm a bit stuck as to what to do with the story line. Do you guys have any ideas? I could combine them all together and put a disclaimer.**

**Also, Do you think this mission should be really long or short?**

**Thanks loads for reading, please review and enjoy! ;)**


	16. The Rehearsal

Jackson, CJ and Aidan collapsed on the floor of the school hallway, puffed from running. CJ had a long cut on his arm where barbed wire had snagged him, but the bleeding had stopped and the only thing that could be heard was their loud breathing and CJ's occasional groans. Millions of ants scurried alone the wall in a trail constantly, and occasionally small smudges could be seen where the unexpected ant had been squashed.

There was a loud clatter from the end of the corridor and a group of rowdy second graders burst through the door. The corridor was immediately filled with the sound of morning break, but the three boy's thoughts were soon broken away by the trampling of feet. A small girl tripped over Aidan's out-stretched leg and went slamming into the ground, and two other boys behind her fell down on top. Aidan groaned.

'Watch where you're going, bastards,' the two boys got up and kept running, leaving the girl lying there crying with a grazed knee.

Another girl came back for her, and offered her hand but she was tugged away by another kid. Finally, the small girl managed to get up, and the dust settled.

The door banged at the other end off the corridor, and this time it was Rosie. She had changed out of her original clothes and had long scratches down her arms and face.

'Woah… what happened to you?' CJ asked.

'Got caught in a bit of trouble trying to escape. It was that stupid path down the hill. Went head over heals into a rose bush.' Rosie said, trying her best to look as if it was no big deal. 'Oh, Jackson – I met your brother when I came round. Seems pretty nice.'

'Yeah, nice, but a bit of a player. Watch out.' He grinned.

Aidan stood up. 'Better get going. It's time for second lesson.'

The rest of the day turned into extreme boredom. None of the teachers were enthusiastic about teaching and none of the students for learning. It was 3pm, after school, before Jackson could actually relax. All the other kids had mostly left but a few were still hanging around, including Aidan.

'So… do you think they're pretty cool?'

'Who?' asked Jackson.

'CJ and Rosie. You seemed to like them a lot.'

Jackson nodded. 'Yeah, they're okay. Got a bit if a streak for mindless vandalism though. You don't seem altogether enthusiastic.'

'It's not that I don't like them. We're just not really close. I don't have much other friends.'

'Why don't you find some more?'

Aidan shook his head. 'I can't. You wouldn't understand. Breaking away from them would break everything in my life.'

'Why?'

'Okay. Well… we make up a band. It means everything to me and I don't want to lose it.' Aidan said.

'Right. What are you called?'

'The DAX. CJ came up with it, but I got no idea what it means. It sounds pretty cool though, so I don't mind. The band's in connection with this gang my dad's in.'

Jackson nodded again. 'That's pretty cool. Mind if I join?'

'I suppose it wouldn't do anything. Do you play guitar?'

'Sure.'

'Okay. Well, I have to get home. I'll let you know when we rehearse.' Aidan smiled and walked off.

As soon as he was gone, Kyle appeared from behind the fence that boarded the two schools.

'What's up?'

'Nothing. Aidan said I could join some band that's connected to the Goshters. Might me able to pick up something with that.'

Jackson walked up to the front door of the house he had been given details for. It was a fairly run-down looking place, with boarded up windows and the occasional beer can lying about. CJ answered the door.

'Come in. We've already started and if you want to join you'll have to hurry up because Aidan's got the music and everything ready.'

Jackson stepped inside. The long dark hallway had old pictures hung with cobwebs, but when they got to the living room, it was marvellous.

There was a drum kit, a keyboard, three microphones and a selection of guitars. Off to the side there was a large seating area with a coffee table and a stack of music on top. Everything seemed much too organised for a group of eleven-year-olds.

Aidan appeared from behind the drum-kit. 'Thanks for coming. We're still waiting on a few people but we should get started when they're here.' He turned to the guitars which lined the side wall. 'Pick a guitar and you can grab some music over there.'

Jackson found a guitar which was doing well in the scratches department and sat down on a stool. The music didn't look too complicated.

An older kid walked in. 'Hey, Aidan. Where's Whip?'

'Work.' Aidan said.

'Right. Tell him I'll pop in later, Okay?' The kid walked out and Rosie and another girl appeared from the next room.

'Sara's here.' she said. 'Where's the keyboard pedal?'

Jackson started to tune his guitar and tried to block out the piercing noise when one of the microphones dropped down next to a speaker.

After about ten minutes, four boys walked in. Jackson recognised two of them as James and Kyle. The other two were Ryan and Joe Goshter, the brothers of Aidan. They both had pierced tongues and ears looked rather violent.

Joe picked up and guitar and handed one to his brother. James and Kyle sat down to watch. They weren't that musical, Jackson could tell.

Aidan rapped his drumsticks together. 'Guys, we got a new member, Jackson. He's gonna play guitar.' Everyone turned to him, and because the room was rather large the eyes of everyone on him felt kind of intimidating and made him feel small. He was probably the shortest there, anyway.

The band started off the rehearsal. The main singer was CJ, with Rosie and Sara on backups. Joe played bass, Ryan was on electric and Jackson was playing the acoustic. An extremely skinny kid, who was commonly known as muscles, played the keys and Aidan was at the back on drums.

It didn't sound as bad as Jackson had thought it would. CJ's voice wasn't broken yet but with the aid of the voice changer, low notes that the girls couldn't reach were filled in. The music was mainly soft, melodic stuff, rather than heavy metal rubbish which he had imagined.

At about five o'clock, the rehearsal came to a standstill when the main speaker next to the guitars broke. Everyone packed up their stuff, and five minutes later only the three agents, the Goshters and CJ remained. Rosie had gone off with her friend and muscles had said he had to get home to cook dinner.

Joe got drinks and biscuits from the kitchen and plopped down onto the dusty couch in Aidan's bedroom.

'Have a seat.'

There was a bang on the door of Ashley's room. She was half asleep and had a mini-heart attack when she realised someone was there.

'Come in.' It was hard to see the figure in the dim room, but judging by the clothes the person was wearing, she guessed it was Bailey. The next words confirmed this.

'Ashley? I need to talk to you.'

'Sure. Turn the light on as you come in.' Ashley said. The light flickered on and Bailey stepped out of the shadows of the corridor. It was half past eleven at night. The staff had ordered everyone on the sixth floor to bed early because of the disruption of a party the night before.

Bailey sat down on the bed. 'Well… I'm upset.'

Ashley sighed. 'Jackson is coming back soon. Is that it?'

'No, not entirely. I do miss him, but I'm worried about Justin.'

'How come?'

Bailey let out a huge sigh. 'I don't know. He seems to really like you and I guess he's sad about how you avoided him last night.'

'I didn't avoid him. Lauren finally arrived back from her mission. I was trying to welcome her. It's not my fault.' Ashley said. She could feel the tension building up.

'Whatever. He's just really upset because you don't talk to him as much. I don't know guys, but I do know my brother and for some reason he doesn't take rejection that well. I think it's because of what mum used to do to us…when we were little.'

'Okay,' said Ashley, not bothering to ask about what this was. 'I understand. But we're best friends and even best friends need their space.'

'When you're in a relationship with someone as much as you are with Justin, you have to…'

'We're not going out,' said Ashley. 'So, we're friends. I do like Justin way more than a friend, but you have to understand that I need my space. I'm only thirteen, I'm not twenty.'

'Right- oh. Well, just don't hang him out to dry, will you? He's my brother, Ash. You hurt him, I feel the pain too.' Bailey got up to go, but turned back and pulled Ashley into a hug. 'You're the best, Ash. Thanks for being here all the time.'

Ashley smiled to herself. 'No problem. I'll see you in the morning. Make sure you get caught by Meryl Spencer in the hallway!'


	17. Lance McFerrin

**Hey guys! It's Gasher here with my new chapter. Wow, it's been SO long since I posted. Once again, I'm very sorry for taking so long getting new chapters out. Things really do get busy. As well as this new chapter, I've also updated almost every other chapter and got rid of numerous mistakes. I have a feeling I was half asleep while I was writing my last chapter. Sorry for the mistakes – I've fixed them now so you shouldn't be too confused about the fact that Justin was there when he was meant to be in training. =O**

**I've also got a brand new story coming out very soon, called 'The life of a Rich Girl.' I'm trying to get the first few chapters written before I post it, so keep listening up if you want to read it when I finally get around to putting it up. **

**Thanks loads for all your reviews. It's great to hear what you think of my story, even though I'm not a very good story writer. xD If you have any ideas for future plots just PM me.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I tried to make it longer so you're actually reading it for more than five minutes. **

The classroom was increasingly stuffy and the temperature was pushing into the thirties because the air-con wasn't working. Ashley sat in her chair at the back next to James, rolling her eyes and trying not to think about what the teacher was telling them about algebra. Every time the class got this room, they didn't end up learning anything.

Ashley was on the verge of nodding off completely when Zara Asker poked her head around the door.

'Can I borrow Ashley?' Zara asked. Mr Gorhouse nodded and Ashley jumped up out of her seat and strode out, thankful to be finally out of the giant oven.

'Hi, Zara.'

Zara nodded at her. 'Come to my office. We can't talk here.'

'Have I got a mission?'

'Yes,' Zara ended the conversation and dived into the lift just as it was leaving. Ashley scowled and ran out the fire door. She saw Zara as she came around the next corner, coming out of the lift and climbing into one of the golf buggies parked outside. She looked apologetic.

'Sorry about leaving you behind, but I couldn't hurt this little one running down the back stairs, could I?' She smiled and pointed at her belly which looked a good six months pregnant.

'No problem.' Ashley replied, climbing into the passenger seat which smelled very strongly of rubber. The sun had baked it to the limit despite the shady roof covering and she groaned as her bottom started to burn to the seat. The trip over to the new mission control building took a good ten minutes and by the time Zara had parked the golf buggy by the door they were sweltering in the heat.

Ashley had never been in the Mission Control building before and she felt cool as she strolled after Zara, getting looks of certain appreciation off various adults as they passed by. After being scanned with the new high-tech security machines at the door, Zara led Ashley down a selection of massive corridors. Every ten meters or so there was a door on either side which opened out to offices for each of the mission controllers. She stopped when she got to a door about halfway along the winding corridor. 'Here we are. Make yourself comfortable in one of the chairs behind the desk.'

Ashley sank down into a smart leather chair as Zara pulled a folder out of a filing cabinet and sat down opposite. She took out a black and white photograph of a boy who looked about her age.

'Do you know who this is?'

Ashley gasped. 'That's Lance McFerrin from my old karate class! I haven't seen him in about five years, since I moved to England.'

'Yes, you're quite right.' said Zara. 'But here's the thing. Two years ago, he was kidnapped by a gang that was known to be based in Wales, around about where he lived.'

'So, they never found him?'

'They found him dumped on a roadside about two months ago. He recovered after about a week in hospital. However, there seems to be a catch. Here… you'd better read this.' She passed a briefing over the desk.

_***Classified***_

_Mission Briefing for Ashley Lockett_

_This paper is protected by a radio frequency tag._

_Any attempt to remove this from the room will set off an alarm._

_1. The Kidnapping of Lance Cashton_

_On 23__rd__ November, 2001, ten year old boy Lance McFerrin was on his way home from school when he was kidnapped. Police could find no leads as to where he was taken or who the kidnappers were. All forensic evidence that could have been found was destroyed by other members of the 'gang', who drove after them. Only an old lady is believed to have seen the kidnapping, but she was suffering from dementure and her evidence could not be taken into court._

_His family presumed the worst and believed he was dead, and the case was declared cold._

_A woman named Clarice Carter came to the police in June 2005, claiming that she had seen a boy being kidnapped and had caught it on video tape. The department in charge of the investigation examined the video which showed a slightly blurred image of two masked men pulling a small boy into a nearby car and driving off._

_However, when biometric facial recognition was used to identify the boy, a whole two months later, he too was found to be the same boy that was found in a ditch, on the border. He was identified as fifteen-year-old Riley Dover._

_The woman said that she got into her car and followed the men at a distance. They stopped at a small motor services link on the motorway about an hour later and the woman caught one of the kidnapper's faces on video. When scans of the kidnapper's face were taken, they had a 99% match to the face of Lance McFerrin. This led the police to confirm the following:_

_The original kidnappers were forcing Lance and the other prisoners into their dirty work, either for money, or for their lives._

_2. Finding Lance_

_In July 2005, a policewoman found Lance behind a bush on the side of the highway. On being questioned by police, he would give no further information than the fact that he did not know who the men were. He was taken back to his family in central London, but according to his father Don McFerrin, he was never the same again._

_Now 14 years old, he makes regular visits to a counsellor and tries his best to live a normal life. He also makes regular disappearances, sometimes for days at a time. Nobody knows where he goes or what he does, and even his peers had nothing to say to interviewers. Riley Dover was also found to be disappearing and reappeared at the same time as Lance._

_3. The role of CHERUB_

_Police launched an investigation in late August to try to find out where Lance and Riley go to their 'meetings' and what they do there. As using adults so far has failed, it has been decided that two CHERUB agents will be used to track them._

_Agents will need to befriend them at the local school they attend and try to win their trust, as to maybe gather some information as to their whereabouts. The two agents will pose as siblings and will be set in different grades, so that one agent can monitor the moves of Riley and the other of Lance._

_Mark Stevens – Riley Dover (Year 10)_

_Ashley Lockett – Lance McFerrin (Year 9)_

_Ashley and Mark will take on the role of Ashley and Mark Philips, who are 'foster children' to Zara and Ewart Philips._

_The Ethics Committee passed this mission on a 2-1 vote, on the basis that all agents understand the following:_

_This mission has been classified MEDIUM RISK. Agents will have access to mission controllers 60% of the time and will be near danger levels that should not affect them, unless the mission takes a turn for the worse._

_Agents have a full right to refuse this mission or give up at any point._

Ashley closed the briefing and looked at Zara. 'Wow. I can't believe Lance has been manipulated into this!'

'Neither can I,' Zara nodded. 'I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, though. I understand you were very close.'

Ashley laughed. 'Sure we were. But we're talking about a five year reunion. I'm not that sure about it.'

'Okay,' said Zara. 'But you'll do the mission?'

'Sure.'

'Okay. I have to brief Mark this afternoon, so let him know and tell him I said 3:00pm.'

Ashley nodded and left. Her mind was buzzing – she was going to see Lance again! They had been best friends almost her whole childhood, until she had left for London. She wondered about what his life was like now. Obviously, he would be different, after being kidnapped and all that. Maybe he'd changed completely, and turned to the dark side even in every-day life. He might act suicidal, too.

_Stop thinking all these horrid thoughts! _Ashley told herself. _There's nothing wrong with him. He's just been through a lot, like all CHERUBs have. He's no different from me or Mark. _But at the same time she had her doubts.

Ashley made her way to the medical unit to pay Stacey a visit. She'd just received a message from Kyle, asking how she was. As she walked through the door into the heated room, she saw Bailey waiting in an armchair by the coffee machine.

She waved Ashley over. 'Are you here to visit Stacey?'

'Sure. Kyle asked how she was.' As she said this a nurse came through the doorway and beckoned to them.

'You can see her for a few minutes, but then you'll have to go back to class.'

They walked through the ward until they came to Stacey's bed. She looked overly pale and she held a hot water bottle against her chest.

'Hey, Bailey. Thanks for coming. I heard Roxy got booted off training yesterday. She got angry with Miss Smoke and jumped the low fence around the back.'

Bailey laughed. 'I can imagine her fat arse going over. Should have landed in the mud at the bottom.'

The nurse shifted the bed and Stacey groaned. 'Don't do that! It makes the leg ache.' Her accent came out much more than it normally would have and she sounded like Miss Carnot, the French teacher on campus.

Ashley texted Kyle and reassured him that Stacey was okay.


End file.
